How to find a job in Ireland as a refugee

Yes, once you have a Labour Market Access Permission. You become eligible if you have not received a first-instance recommendation six months after the “Application Received” date on your IPA Certificate, and you are cooperating with the process: attending interviews, returning the questionnaire and providing documents. Delays must not be caused by you. If you get a first decision within six months, you are not eligible.

Apply online through the Immigration Service Delivery portal five months after your application date, so the permission can be ready at six. Attach a copy of your in-date IPA Certificate and your identity documents, or a description of your efforts to get them. Since 29 January 2025 permissions arrive by email, so check the address on your account carefully.

The permission covers employment and self-employment for 12 months and can be renewed until you have a final decision, including appeals. Apply for renewal two months before it expires. When you start a job, you and your employer complete form LMA5 and send it to the Labour Market Access Unit.

• You cannot start work until you have the permission.
• The Irish Refugee Council says employers can allow a grace period of up to 4 weeks if your renewal is delayed, if you show the confirmation email for your renewal application.
• It also reports that, until 27 November 2026, employers can let you work on an expired IPA Certificate if you have a valid permission and can show you applied to renew the certificate.

You are given Stamp 4. It lets you work for any employer without an employment permit, work in a profession subject to that profession’s own rules, and set up and run a business. You no longer need the Labour Market Access Permission or LMA5 forms. On your CV, one line is enough: “Stamp 4: no employment permit required.”

This is the moment to aim higher than the first available job. Stamp 4 gives you the same access to the labour market as most residents, and to State services and funding as Government departments decide, so use it to rebuild the career you had.

You can work in Ireland as soon as you have your Temporary Protection permission letter, including self-employment, and you can take vocational training. Temporary protection has been extended to 4 March 2027. You do not need a new Temporary Protection Certificate, and an expired one can be used as proof of your right to work until that date. In July 2026 the Minister for Justice told the Cabinet that protection may continue until March 2028, but check Immigration Service Delivery for the final decision before you make plans past March 2027.

Employment Support Officers at Intreo centres help people from Ukraine find work, and JobsIreland has information in Ukrainian and Russian. If you get a social welfare payment, tell Intreo when you start work; its online calculator shows how part-time work affects your payment. Teachers who qualified in Ukraine have a dedicated registration process with the Teaching Council.

You don’t need to pay anyone to find a job in Ireland, and you shouldn’t. These services are free:

• Intreo and Local Employment Services: job-search support, guidance and access to training. JobsIreland.ie is the linked public job portal.
• EPIC (Employment for People from Immigrant Communities), run by Business in the Community Ireland: a free 6-week online programme covering CVs, explaining gaps, interview practice with business volunteers, LinkedIn and Irish work culture. It is open to job-ready asylum seekers with work permits, refugees and people with subsidiary protection or leave to remain on Stamp 4, beneficiaries of temporary protection and some other migrants, at intermediate English level.
• The Irish Refugee Council: information on the right to work and help with LMAP problems.
• UNHCR Ireland’s help pages, with contacts for employment services and education.

Recruitment agencies must be licensed and cannot charge you for registering. Anyone who asks for money to get you a job or a permit is not someone to trust.

Hiring in Ireland happens in English, so it is the biggest lever you have. Adults can often join English classes and adult literacy courses at their local Education and Training Board (ETB); each ETB decides what it offers and for how long. Many universities and colleges in the University of Sanctuary network offer scholarships and support to people seeking protection.

Write your level on your CV precisely, using the CEFR scale: “English: B1 (ETB course, in progress)” tells an employer more than “basic English”. Meanwhile, aim for jobs where your skills matter more than your English, and where you will speak English every day. That combination is the fastest way up.

For academic qualifications, NARIC Ireland’s free database lets you download a comparability statement that matches your degree to a level on Ireland’s National Framework of Qualifications. If your qualification is not listed, you can ask NARIC Ireland for advice on it. The statement is advice for employers, not a licence.

Regulated professions need registration with the Irish authority before you practise: the Medical Council for doctors, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland for nurses and midwives, and the Teaching Council for teachers. Registration takes time, so start it early and take related work meanwhile, such as a healthcare assistant or classroom assistant role, that keeps you in the sector. Our qualification recognition guide explains the process across countries.

Use the standard Irish format, which our Irish CV guide covers: one to two pages, no photo. Then solve the four problems specific to your situation.

• Experience from home: translate your job title into the nearest Irish equivalent and add one line on the employer: sector, size and what it did. A recruiter in Galway will not know a ministry in Kabul or a factory in Kharkiv. Keep bullets to results.
• Gaps from flight: one factual line is enough, such as “2022–2024: Relocated to Ireland; English course (B1) and volunteering”. How much of your story you share is your choice. Our career gap guide has more wording.
• Missing certificates: list the qualification, institution and year, and add the NFQ level once you have a comparability statement. Never claim a qualification you cannot explain in an interview.
• Right to work: one line under your contact details, such as “Stamp 4: no employment permit required” or “Labour Market Access Permission valid until 03/2027”.

The same as any other worker in Ireland. The national minimum wage is €14.15 an hour, and employment law protects you whatever your immigration status. The Workplace Relations Commission publishes employment law in Ukrainian and Russian as well as English. If an employer pays cash below the minimum wage, asks you to work without the permission you need, or holds your documents, get advice from Citizens Information or the Irish Refugee Council.