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Business Permission renewal applications must be made to the Business Permission Unit (address above), one month before the end of the existing period. The following documentation must be submitted with all applications for renewal: A. Audited accounts and proof of observing taxation requirements. B. All employees P60’s for the business’s duration of being up and running. . C. Bank Statements from the last 6 months relating to the business. D. Valid work permits (where applicable) for your employees. E. Tax clearance certificate If it is established that the business in question satisfies the conditions for Business Permission, renewal of Business Permission shall be issued for a further 12 month period. If however the conditions are not fully met the business permission will stop being in existence and all conditions relating to such permission will stop with immediate force without exception. Business Permission Unit Immigration Services Section Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service Department of Justice and Equality

If your application is refused you will be informed of the reason(s) in writing. You will be entitled to ask for a re-examination of this decision. Please note that asking for a re-examination of the decision must be made within one month of the date of refusal. Any correspondence received after this period will not, under any circumstances, be considered.

If your application is approved you will be sent a letter giving you permission to take part in business for an initial duration of 12 months. If you are living outside the State, this letter should be given to an Immigration Officer upon arrival in the State in order to get permission to enter. After your arrival in the State you must register with your local registration office (Garda National Immigration Bureau, 13/14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2 or, for persons living outside of the Dublin area, their local Garda Superintendent’s Office). If your application is successful and you are already living legally in the State you may start your business but you must first register or renew your existing registration with your local registration office.

Queries can be made by email or post. Contact details are listed below. � Email queries may be addressed to [email protected]. Please ensure that all queries include your name, reference number and contact details. � By post � or , questions can be posted to the address mentioned above

Applications from non EEA nationals who do not have the required 60 months (5 years) reckonable residence at the date of application will not be accepted.

An application generally takes between 6 and 8 months to process. However, for a number of reasons, some applications may take longer.

Initially we check that you fully comply with the residency and work requirements for the scheme. If you don't we will let you know, usually within a week of submission of your application. If you do comply, your application will be placed in chronological order with other such applications and will then advance to conclusion.

Persons who have been legally resident in the State may apply for Long Term Residency subject to the conditions below: • You must have a minimum of 60 months (5 years) calculated residence on the date you send in your application. • Only legal residence in the State on work permit, work authorisation or working visa conditions will be counted as calculated residence for the purposes of your Long Term Residency application. This calculated residence must be indicated by either a Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 endorsement on your passport - and not by the dates on your work permits, working authorisation or working visa. (Note: If you are applying for Long Term Residency as a spouse/dependant, your passport is usually endorsed with Stamp 3 or, in some cases, a combination of Stamps 1 a 3 • Your permission to stay in the State must be up to date when you apply. • You must be in paid employment when you apply and during and after the application process. • You must be of good character. • Any period of time for which you do not have permission to stay is not counted when we calculate your reckonable residence. • If you are applying for Long Term Residency as a Spouse/Dependant, please note that, should your application be successful, you will be granted Long Term Residency on Stamp 3 (Dependant stamp) conditions for 5 years. However you are not exempt from work permit conditions.

1. Copy of applicant's work permits. 2. Copy of applicant's Certificate of Registration from Garda National Immigration Bureau (i.e. GNIB Card). 3. Clear and legible copy (or copies) of applicant's passport(s) including all endorsements. (In the event that your passport has expired since arriving in the State, please send copies of all stamped passports containing GNIB endorsements).

The following documents, together with a covering letter of application clearly indicating the passport endorsements relating to each work permit, should be submitted to: Long Term Residency Division P.O. Box 12079 Dublin 1. You can contact the Long Term Residency helpline by phoning (01) 6167700 between the hours of 10.00 a.m. - 12.00 p.m. on Wednesdays. Please select Option 3 and then Option 3. Callers should note that this option is dedicated to queries relating to Long Term Residency only.

Applications for Long Term Residency cannot be accepted from persons listed in the following categories: • The applicant is an EEA National (EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein & Norway). • The applicant has permission to stay on the basis of his/her marriage to an Irish national (refer applicant to Spouse of Irish National Unit). • The applicant has permission to stay on the basis of his/her marriage to an EEA national. (refer applicant to EU Treaty Rights Section) • The applicant has permission to stay on Student Conditions (Stamp 2 & Stamp 2A) • The applicant has been dismissed from work and has been lawfully resident and worked for 5 years with an employment permit issued by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation or has been lawfully resident and has worked in accordance with an employment permit for less than 5 years and has been made redundant involuntarily. (See "Policy for 5 year workers and redundant workers "). • The applicant has permission to remain under the old IBC and IBC-05 schemes or has had such permission renewed. (refer to IBC section) • The applicant was granted permission to remain under the Turkish Agreement (Turkish Association – Stamp 4 for 1 year – renewable with local Immigration Officer) • The applicant was granted permission to remain under Humanitarian Leave to Remain or was granted Refugee Status or entered the State under the Family Reunification scheme. • The applicant has permission to stay on the basis of an Intra-company Transfer. • The applicant is working at a foreign embassy in the State. • Permission to Stay issued under the Work Holiday Authorisation scheme (see www.dfa.ie) is not counted for the purposes of Long Term Residency. • The applicant holds only Green Card (Employment) permits. Once the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008 has come into force , Green Card (Employment) Permit holders will be entitled to make direct application to the Minister for Justice and Equality for consideration for Long Term Residency. • The Applicant currently resident in the State under Business Permission

(i) Applications from persons who have been legally resident in the State for a minimum of 5 years (i.e. 60 months) on work permit/work authorisation/working visa conditions: Applications for Long Term Residency in Ireland are at the moment dealt with as an administrative scheme. Persons who have been legally resident in the State for a minimum of five years (i.e. 60 months) on the basis of work permit/work authorisation/working visa conditions may apply to this office for a five year residency extension. In that context, they may also apply to be exempt from employment permit requirements. Long Term Residency is granted on the basis that a non EEA national has completed a minimum of five years (i.e. 60 months) legal residence in the State on work permit conditions which is indicated in the corresponding Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 endorsements on a person's passport (not by the dates of commencement and expiry of each work permit/work authorisation/working visa). Periods of time for which a person has not been legally resident in the state (i.e. does not have an up to date endorsement on their passport) cannot be counted towards an application for Long Term Residency. A successful applicant in this situation will be granted Permission to Remain on a Stamp 4 which is valid for 5 years. (ii) Applications from Spouses/Dependants The spouse and/or dependant(s) of the applicant for Long Term Residency may also apply for Long Term Residency. In order to apply for Long Term Residency as a spouse/dependant, the applicant must be legally resident in the State as a spouse/dependant for the required 60 month period (i.e. minimum of 5 years). Successful applications from those who apply as a spouse/dependant will be granted Permission to Remain on a Stamp 3. This particular long term permission does not exempt the spouse/dependant(s) from employment permit requirements. It should be noted that, in order to submit an application for Long Term Residency as a Spouse/Dependant (Stamp 3) you must be the Spouse/Dependant of an applicant who has already been granted Long Term Residency on Stamp 4 conditions. (Note: See last paragraph for groups of persons for which applications for Long Term Residency cannot be accepted).