Ireland Start-up Entrepreneur Programme

1. Residence permit24 months
2. Renew36 months at a time
3. Permanent residencyafter 5 years
4. Citizenshipafter 5 years

• Permanent residency 5 years
• Citizenship 5 years
• Dual citizenship allowed

Country

Ireland

Program

Ireland Start-up Entrepreneur Programme

Local name

STEP

Type

Startup

Status

Active

Initial duration

24 months

Renewable

Yes (36 mo)

Residence permission for a non-EEA founder with an innovative high-potential startup and at least €50,000 of secured funding. The first permission lasts two years. The first renewal lasts three years, and later renewals are for five years.

Savings required

$57,500

Application fee

$403

Tax regime

Remittance

Regime name

20% and 40%; remittance basis if not domiciled

Foreign income taxed

Yes

Capital gains taxed

Yes

Method

online

Apply from abroad

Yes

The €50,000 is funding for the business, not a personal savings balance. It may be the applicant's own resources, a business loan, angel or venture-capital funding, or a grant from an Irish state agency, and it must be transferable to Ireland. Each additional principal, other than a family member, must show €30,000. Retail, personal services and catering are outside the programme. A high-potential startup introduces a new or innovative product or service to international markets, is in manufacturing or internationally traded services, is capable of 10 jobs in Ireland and €1 million in sales within three years, is led by an experienced management team, is headquartered and controlled in Ireland, and is less than five years old. No job target is set at the start. Meeting the funding figure does not guarantee approval. The October 2022 application form says a successful applicant is granted Stamp 1. The holder must work full time on the approved business and cannot take other employment. An employment permit is not required for that business. Private medical insurance is required, and the holder must not access public funds. The non-refundable fee is €350 by electronic transfer and covers the applicant and nominated family. Registering the Irish Residence Permit is a further €300 per adult. Applications go by email to [email protected] and are considered quarterly. There is no appeal. Russian and Belarusian citizens are not accepted. The September 2023 guidelines do not mention that exclusion; it is on the programme page, last updated 14 October 2025. A spouse or civil partner, a partner with two years of cohabitation, and unmarried children under 18 in the applicant's custody can be included. Dependent parents are not. After a business fails, permission is reviewed and the person must apply on another basis. The programme guidelines say that after five years the holder is eligible for long-term residence, and that permission may then be renewed in five-year blocks. The separate Long Term Residency scheme is only for people who held employment permits. Stamp 5, without condition as to time, is available after 96 months of countable residence, and Stamp 1 can be counted. Naturalisation is discretionary. Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 requires one continuous year of reckonable residence immediately before the application and four years in the preceding eight. There is no language test, and Ireland does not require renunciation of another citizenship. Only physical residence counts. The programme has no special tax rules. In 2026, income tax is 20% to €44,000 for a single person and 40% above that. A resident who is not Irish-domiciled is taxed on Irish-source income and on foreign income and gains remitted to Ireland. At the ECB reference rate of 8 October 2026, €1 = $1.1186, so €50,000 is about $55,930 and €350 is about $392. The stored dollar figures were left because each is within 10% of that conversion.