Recruiting non EEA graduates from Irish universities

Did you know that non EEA Graduates from an Irish university with an Honours Bachelor degree (NFQ Level 8) can apply to work with your organisation without an employment permit under the Third Level Graduate Programme - Stamp 1G programme?

Graduates are granted permission for 12 months initially. This permission, termed Stamp 1G, may be extended to a total of 24 months for graduates of Masters (NFQ L9) and PhD (NFQ L10) programmes.

Graduating non-EEA students can:

• work full time in accordance with employment law requirements
• continue working after their Stamp 1G permission expires following receipt of an employment permit

Ireland’s Third Level Graduate Programme aims to incentivise high performing students to come to study in Ireland, to remain on after their studies, and to contribute to identified skills and language needs in the Irish economy. These highly sought after students and graduates are at an opportune time in their studies and careers to help close the skills gaps across many employment sectors. They have been educated in Irish Universities and are choosing to build on their education by gaining experience in Ireland.

The HEA Graduate Outcomes Survey demonstrates that 71.3% of international taught master’s graduates are employed in Ireland nine months after graduation, compared to 93.6% for Irish-domiciled graduates. For L8 Honours Bachelor graduates, these figures are 64.5% and 94% respectively. This demonstrates that there is a high probability that those who choose to study in Ireland from abroad, will also wish to work in Ireland for a period post-study.

The Irish Universities Association (IUA), in partnership with Ibec are collaborating with enterprise and enterprise representative organisations to increase awareness of the processes and promote the benefits of hiring Ireland’s international graduates.

For further details on the scheme: Third level graduate programme - Immigration Service Delivery (irishimmigration.ie)

We would love to get your insights by completing this short (1 minute) survey here.

Jennifer Cleary

Irish Universities Association