I am moving to Ireland — what happens, and when?
Moving to Ireland: the whole journey
I am moving to Ireland — what happens, and when?
In roughly this order: somewhere to stay, a PPSN, a bank account, Revenue, then immigration registration if your permission needs it. Each step unlocks the next, and the first one is the one everyone underestimates.
From three weeks before you fly to three months after you land, including the things that cannot be done from abroad.
18 steps
Most relocation checklists start the day you land. The three weeks before you fly are where the avoidable problems are made — the flight booked before the permit, the accommodation with no letter, the no-claims record left in a filing cabinet abroad.
Tick as you go. Your progress stays in the link, so you can send it to yourself and carry on from another device.
The shape of it
How long each step takes, and where the process stops being reversible.
18 steps, from "three weeks before you fly" to "month three, and after". Each is listed in full below with what it costs and how long it takes.
- Work out what the move actually costs15 minutes
- Decide roughly where, on what it costs rather than on a map10 minutes
- Check what permission you need, and start it now4–12 weeks
- If family are coming, check the income the policy asks for10 minutes
- Gather the paper that is hard to get once you have leftStart early — some take weeks
- Book an address that will write you a letterBook before you fly
- Ask whether your bank can open an Irish or euro account before you arriveDays
- Turn where you are staying into a documentDay 1–3
- Apply for a PPSN2–6 weeks to arrive
- Open an Irish current account1 day to 2 weeks
- Register your immigration permission, if you need oneBook immediately; weeks to attend
- Register for Revenue myAccount and register the jobThe week the PPSN arrives
- Check your first payslips for emergency taxPayslips 1–3
- Sign a tenancy, and check the RTB registrationWeeks 2–6
- Register with a GPMonth 1
- Exchange your driving licence before it becomes an examWithin the exchange window
- Start the residence clock, and know what it countsFive years of residence
- Find out what your PRSI contributions are buildingCheck yearly
Three weeks before you fly
Deposit, first month's rent, flights, setup costs and a float to reach your first payday — which is often a month after you start. This is the number people underestimate, and underestimating it is what turns month two into a crisis.
Cost Free to work outTakes 15 minutes
County rents differ by more than a thousand euro a month, and so does everything that follows from them. Pick two or three counties you could actually take a job in, and compare what a month costs in each before you commit to a city.
Cost FreeTakes 10 minutes
EU, EEA, UK and Swiss citizens need nothing in advance. Everyone else needs the right permission before travelling, and employment permits are decided in weeks rather than days. Start before you book anything you cannot cancel.
Cost €1,000 for a Critical Skills permit, less for othersTakes 4–12 weeks
Family reunification has published income thresholds that changed in June 2026, and they are assessed on one sponsor's income over the years before you apply. Finding that out after the move is the worst possible time.
Cost Free to checkTakes 10 minutes
Birth and marriage certificates, your driving licence and its no-claims record in English, qualification certificates, medical and vaccination records, and your last few payslips. A no-claims letter from a foreign insurer is the one people come back for — Irish motor insurance is punishing without it.
Cost Free to €100 in certificatesTakes Start early — some take weeks
The week before you fly
You need Work out what the move actually costs first.
Not a hotel booking confirmation — a place that will write, on request, that you are staying there. That letter is what turns "I have nowhere to live" into a proof of address, and it is the hinge the whole first month turns on. Ask before you pay.
Cost €900–€2,000 for the first monthTakes Book before you fly
Some international banks and most of the app banks will open a euro account from abroad. It is not a full substitute for an Irish current account, but it gives you an IBAN a landlord can see and somewhere for the first salary to land while the Irish account is being opened.
Cost Usually freeTakes Days
Week one
You need Book an address that will write you a letter first.
Get the letter you arranged, or the short-let agreement, or ask your employer for a letter on headed paper showing the address they hold for you. One document with your name and an Irish address is what unblocks everything else this week.
Cost FreeTakes Day 1–3
You need Turn where you are staying into a document first.
Apply through MyWelfare and attend the appointment. Bring your passport, your proof of address, and the reason you need it — an employment letter is the clearest reason there is. Everything to do with tax, welfare and health waits on this number.
Cost FreeTakes 2–6 weeks to arrive
Open the tool for this stepThe official page (opens in a new tab)
You need Turn where you are staying into a document first.
Passport and proof of address, and in practice a PPSN — though no rule requires one for a basic account, so ask rather than accept the first refusal. If the branch says no, the app banks are faster and the salary can land there meanwhile.
Cost Free to €6 a monthTakes 1 day to 2 weeks
Non-EEA citizens staying more than 90 days register and get an IRP card. Appointments are the bottleneck, not the paperwork, so book the moment you land rather than when the 90 days are nearly up.
Cost €300Takes Book immediately; weeks to attend
Month one
You need Apply for a PPSN first.
Add your employer under Jobs and Pensions as soon as the PPSN exists. This is what moves you off emergency tax. Nobody tells you to do it, and the money comes back only once you have.
Cost FreeTakes The week the PPSN arrives
You need Register for Revenue myAccount and register the job first.
A short first payslip is usually emergency tax rather than a mistake in your salary. It is refunded through payroll once Revenue has matched you to the employer.
Cost Refunded, not lostTakes Payslips 1–3
You need Open an Irish current account, and Apply for a PPSN first.
With a PPSN, an Irish account and a payslip you are a normal applicant. A deposit is capped at one month's rent on top of one month in advance, and the tenancy must be registered with the RTB — that registration is what protects both.
Cost Two months up frontTakes Weeks 2–6
Open the tool for this stepThe official page (opens in a new tab)
Practices take patients when they have room, not when you are ill. Register while you are well and healthy, which is the only time it is easy.
Cost €50–€80 a visitTakes Month 1
Month three, and after
Licences from the EU, the UK and a list of other states can be exchanged directly. Everything else means starting again — theory test, lessons, driving test — so check which list yours is on early, because exchange windows have deadlines.
Cost €55 to exchangeTakes Within the exchange window
Naturalisation counts reckonable residence, not time on the calendar: student permission does not count, and days spent abroad push the date out. Knowing the date now changes decisions you make in year two.
Cost FreeTakes Five years of residence
Contributions start with the first payslip and the State pension is worked out from the record, so a few missing years matter more than people expect.
Cost FreeTakes Check yearlyTool for this is not published yet
Sources
- Department of Social Protection — how to get a PPS number (opens in a new tab)checked 2026-09-11
- Immigration Service Delivery — registering your immigration permission (opens in a new tab)checked 2026-09-11
- Citizens Information — moving to Ireland, checklist (opens in a new tab)checked 2026-09-11
- Revenue — coming to live in Ireland (opens in a new tab)checked 2026-09-11
- Residential Tenancies Board — security deposits (opens in a new tab)checked 2026-09-11