Hospitality Manager General Employment Permit

Employers need to make an online application to be able to acquire an employment permit to hire overseas hospitality managers. As of October 27, 2021, a new quota of 350 general employment permits was made available in Ireland for hospitality managers of licenced premises. These included:

• Catering or bar managers.
• Accommodation and hotel managers.
• Publican managers.
• Restaurant and catering establishment managers.

However, when an employer is applying for a General Employment Permit for hospitality managers, an LMNT (Labour Market Needs Test) needs to be conducted. It is very important to recognise that concerning the newly introduced quota for roles now eligible for this permit, an LMNT needs to be done from the date of these changes.

To apply for this permit, employers are required to provide certain information:

Page Contents

• How To Hire Hospitality Managers From Overseas: Employer’s Requirements
• General Employment Permit For Employees: Eligibility And Requirements
• Applying For A General Employment Permit: The Process
• Entering The Country: Requirements For Some Nationalities
• Validity And Extension of General Employment Permit
• IAS Can Help With The Legalities Of Hiring Hospitality Managers Overseas

Required Employer Details

Employers must provide the following details about the company:

• ERN (Employer Registered Number) as well as the Company Name Registered Number.
• The registered name of the company or business, and its trading name if it is different.
• The type of company, such as if the business is a sole trader or a limited company, and so forth.
• The nature of the business, which could be manufacturing, software, and so on,
• The number of EEA and/or Swiss nationals, including Irish nationals, currently under the employment of said employer.
• The number of non-EEA nationals that are currently under the employment of said employer.
• Confirmation if there have been any redundancies made in the company over the last 6 months for the same role that the company is hiring for.
• The name, position in the company, email address, and contact telephone number of a contact person

Required Employee Details

The employer must provide the following information regarding the employee they wish to hire:

• The name, date of birth, gender, nationality, telephone number, current address, email address, and PPS number of the employee.
• The passport number and its expiration date for the employee. (The passport needs to be valid for a minimum of 6 months for a new employment permit, or 3 months for a renewal).
• If the employee is a resident of the state, they must confirm on what basis and provide a GNIB, or Irish Residents Permit Pin.
• Confirmation of details regarding qualifications that are relevant to a hospitality management role.
• Details of any previous visa permissions or employment in this state.

Details Regarding The Employment

The employer must provide information regarding the employment position as follows:

• The title of the job.
• The detailed duties and responsibilities of the role.
• The location of the employment role. (A prospective employee can only work at locations of employment as stated on their application and as stated on the permit for employment).
• The proposed period of employment and a start date.
• Details of recognised relevant third-level qualifications in hospitality management and 5 years of required experience for this role.
• Details of any recognised relevant third-level qualifications in hospitality management and 5 years’ worth of required experience for the non-EEA national employee.

Information Regarding Pay

The employer will also need to disclose information regarding the salary and pay of the employee, as follows:

• The total annual salary.
• Hourly and weekly rates of pay for the employee.
• The number of hours that will be worked per week.
• Details regarding any salary deductions and what these deductions will be for.
• Confirmation regarding the deductions of any pay for health insurance.

Be aware that general employment permits require a minimum salary of €36,605 per year based on a 39-hour work week. Salary only refers to basic pay and does not cover any bonuses, shift allowances, or overtime.

Employer Criteria

Employers do have to meet eligibility criteria to be able to hire employees via the new Irish General Employment Permit. The criteria are as follows:

• The employer must be registered with the Irish Registry Commissioners and Companies Registration Office, if applicable.
• The employer operates in Ireland.
• The employer intends to pay the employee directly.
• At least 50% of the employees in the company are EEA nationals. This rule is only waived in the following situations:
  • Where an employer is a start-up business and has been registered for less than 2 years with a valid letter of support from Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland. Yet, by the time of permit renewal, 50% of employees must be EEA nationals.
  • On the day of application for the permit, the company has no employees, and the foreign national will be the sole employee if the permit is granted. Authorities, in this case, must be satisfied that the employee will be the only employee for an appropriate period.

Applications should be made via the Irish Employment Permits Online System, or EPOS. Applications should be completed and received by authorities within 12 weeks before the proposed employment start date.

An application can be completed through the following steps:

1. Be sure to complete the online application form; once completed and submitted, the relevant fees need to be paid, and it will be processed. Applications are processed in date order by employer type. Individual applicants will be supplied with an individual link to be able to track the status of their applications.
2. The application will be processed by the relevant authorities’ decision-maker. When the application reaches this stage, additional information may be requested. If the relevant authority requests additional information, this information needs to be supplied within 28 days. After this period, the application will be granted or refused. If the application is refused, the reasoning for this decision will be provided.
3. Should an application be refused and the applicant wishes to appeal against this decision, they must do so within 28 days. This can be done using an online form marked ‘Submission of a Decision for Review’. This review will then be completed by a more senior and different decision-maker.

Certain nationalities require a visa to enter Ireland. If you are travelling to Ireland and are not a UK citizen or a citizen of Switzerland or an EEA country, you will likely need a visa.

Visas are certificates placed on your travel document or passport that allow you to travel to Ireland. While you will still have to present your passport and additional documents at Immigration Control, it is still possible for Immigration Officers to refuse your entry. Those travelling with children will likely need to apply for a visa for their children as well.

You will not need a visa if you are one of the following:

• You are an EU or EEA citizen.
• You have a residence card issued by an EEA country or Switzerland due to having a family member who is an EEA or Swiss citizen living outside of their home nation.
• You have a UK short-stay visa and qualify for the short-stay visa waiver or the British-Irish Visa Scheme.
• You are a school student living in a European Union or EEA country and are travelling for a school trip.
• Certain countries may also not require a visa, including Ukraine, the UK, South Africa, Barbados, Australia, Argentina, Malaysia, and so on.

General employment permits are generally issued for a starting period of two years; after this, they can be renewed for another three years. After a five-year period has passed, applicants may be able to apply to the ISD (Immigration Service Delivery) for long-term residency.