First job in Ireland on Stamp 2: when you can start, the hours limit and your rights

When can a Stamp 2 student start working in Ireland? Immigration registration, the 20 and 40 hours a week limit, the €14.15 minimum wage, your contract and payslip, and the job scams that target students.

Published on 19 Oct 2026

Summary

You can work from the day of your immigration registration at the Burgh Quay office in Dublin. On that day the officer stamps Stamp 2, the student permission, in your passport. Before that you can look for jobs and go to interviews. After it, you do not need to wait for the IRP, the residence card, to arrive.
On Stamp 2 you can work part-time, up to 20 hours a week, counting all your jobs together, and up to 40 hours from June to September and from 15 December to 15 January. Self-employment is not allowed on Stamp 2.
From your first shift, the minimum wage is €14.15 an hour if you are 20 or older, and this includes a trial shift. You get your main terms of employment in writing within 5 days, and a payslip every time you are paid.
A job offer that asks you for money or for the use of your bank account is a scam, according to the Irish police, who say newcomers and students are targeted.
With a passport from the EU, the EEA (European Economic Area), Switzerland or the UK, there is no Stamp 2 and no hours limit. If your country has a working holiday agreement with Ireland, you can apply from outside Ireland for up to a year of travel and work. The details are at the end of this guide.
To start today, browse the vacancies on JobsIreland(opens in new tab), the free website of the public employment service.

You can start work on the day you register, with Stamp 2 in your passport

At your registration appointment at Burgh Quay, the officer stamps Stamp 2 in your passport. The ISD (Immigration Service Delivery, the Irish immigration service) says that students with a valid Stamp 2 permission may work(opens in new tab)¹. The ISD's registration FAQs(opens in new tab)² say this stamp takes the place of your first IRP (Irish Residence Permit, the residence card). You can start work the same day, without waiting for the card to arrive by post.

The stamp you get at the airport, the landing stamp, is a temporary permission to stay in the country³. The ISD links the right to work to Stamp 2, which only goes into your passport at registration. Citizens Information, the government's information service, also links the right to work to an IRP with Stamp 2⁴.

The sooner you book, the sooner you can work. Citizens Information says appointments are normally available within 2 to 3 weeks⁵. How to book and what to bring are in our guide to the IRP in Ireland(opens in new tab).

Looking for work is free, and an offer that asks for money or your account is a scam

JobsIreland(opens in new tab) is the website of Intreo, the public employment service, and it is free of charge(opens in new tab)⁶. Citizens Information(opens in new tab)⁷ also lists social media, newspapers, recruitment agencies and notices in shop and restaurant windows.

An employment agency needs a licence and cannot charge you for registering with it, according to the official guide for people coming to work in Ireland(opens in new tab)⁸, from August 2026. The WRC (Workplace Relations Commission, the body that enforces employment law) publishes the list of licensed agencies(opens in new tab)⁹. Look the agency up on it before you register.

The Garda, the Irish police, warns that no legitimate company will ask you to send money or to use your bank account(opens in new tab)¹⁰ when it offers you a job. Before you reply to an offer, check the company's address, landline number and website.

The Garda uses the term money mule for someone who receives money from crime into their account and passes it on. Even without knowing where the money came from, a money mule is laundering the proceeds of crime. The Garda's page on money muling(opens in new tab)¹¹ says this can lead to a prison sentence, a fine or community service, and to the risk of never being able to open a bank account again. Money mule recruiters use job adverts that look legitimate. The Garda says newcomers to the country, often approached soon after they arrive, and students are among the most at risk.

Once you are hired, you need proof of your permission, a PPS number and the job registered with Revenue

What	Where you get it
Proof of your permission: your passport with the registration stamp and, once it arrives, your IRP	At registration at Burgh Quay, explained in our guide to the IRP(opens in new tab)
PPS number, the number that identifies you to public services	You apply online after a job offer, as our guide to the PPS number(opens in new tab) explains
Registration of the job with Revenue, the Irish tax authority	You do it yourself in myAccount for your first job
IBAN, your account number, if you are paid by bank transfer	From the account you open, compared in our guide to bank accounts(opens in new tab)

Employing a student beyond the permitted hours, or after their permission has expired, is an offence for the employer, according to the WRC¹².

An employer should only ask for your PPS number when you actually take up the job¹³. For your first job in Ireland, you register the job with Revenue yourself in myAccount(opens in new tab)¹⁴, using your employer's registration number (TRN). Without that registration, you may pay emergency tax, a higher temporary rate. Our PPS number guide(opens in new tab) shows the rates and how to get back the extra tax.

On Stamp 2, the limit is 20 hours a week, or 40 in the set holiday periods, with no self-employment

The limit follows fixed dates set by the ISD(opens in new tab)¹⁵, the same for every student:

Period	Weekly limit
June, July, August and September	40 hours
15 December to 15 January	40 hours
The rest of the year	20 hours

A week off school in March is still a 20-hour week. In a 2016 notice that is still published(opens in new tab)¹², the WRC explains that the rule moved to fixed dates because each school set its own holidays. The same notice says the limit applies to each week, with no averaging, and to all your jobs together. When the 20-hour limit applies, two jobs of 15 hours each in the same week break it.

Stamp 2 conditions say you must not engage in any other business or trade(opens in new tab)¹⁶. The WRC notice also rules out self-employment and taxi driving, either as an employee or with your own taxi licence. Citizens Information(opens in new tab)¹⁷ says you are typically self-employed if you choose when and how you work, can refuse work, can pass the work to someone else and pay tax through self-assessment, where you declare and pay your own tax. If a company or an app signs you up on that basis, the work is not allowed on Stamp 2.

Students who break these rules may have their permission revoked, according to the WRC. The ISD says it may refuse to renew your permission or issue a notice of intention to deport¹⁶.

From your first shift, you are owed the minimum wage, written terms and a payslip

Right	What the law says
Minimum wage(opens in new tab)¹⁸	€14.15 an hour at 20 or older, €12.74 at 19, €11.32 at 18 and €9.91 under 18. Your employer must also pay it for a work trial, an internship or any work they suggest you do unpaid, and you cannot agree to be paid less.
Written terms(opens in new tab)¹⁹	Within 5 days of starting: names, place of work, start date, job title, how your pay is calculated and your expected hours. The other terms, such as annual leave, within 1 month.
Payslip(opens in new tab)²⁰	A payslip every time you are paid, showing your gross pay and each deduction.
Breaks(opens in new tab)²¹	15 minutes after 4 and a half hours of work. After 6 hours, 30 minutes in total, counting the first 15. The law does not require your employer to pay you for the break.
Annual leave(opens in new tab)²²	For part-time workers, generally 8% of the hours you work. Any annual leave you have not taken is paid when your job ends.
Tips(opens in new tab)²³	Your employer cannot use tips to make up your basic pay. When your employer shares out card tips, you get a statement of the total and your share within 10 days.

Budget 2027 announced a minimum wage of €14.94 an hour for people aged 20 and over from 1 January 2027. This still needs legislation¹⁸.

If you are missing one of these rights, talk to your employer first. If that does not solve it, make a complaint to the WRC using its online form(opens in new tab). The law protects you from victimisation or dismissal for asking for the minimum wage¹⁸. To complain about missing written terms, you need at least one month's service with the employer¹⁹. The WRC also answers questions by phone on (059) 917 8990.

If you apply to renew before your permission expires, you can keep working for up to 12 weeks

Your right to work ends when your permission expires. If you applied to renew before that date, with all the documents, you can stay in Ireland and keep working on the conditions of your current card for up to 12 weeks after it expires. This comes from the ISD's notice to employers(opens in new tab)²⁴. Show your employer the receipt of your application, with its date and application number (OREG), and later the approval email, which is your proof until the new card arrives. If you apply after your permission has expired, you are out of permission and cannot stay or work in Ireland. Renewal step by step is in our IRP guide(opens in new tab).

With an EU, EEA, Swiss or UK passport, there is no Stamp 2 and no hours limit

If you are a citizen of a European Union member state, or of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, you can work as an employee or be self-employed without an employment permit²⁵. The hours limit is a condition of Stamp 2, which this group does not have. The ISD publishes the exact list of countries in this group(opens in new tab)²⁶. Several European countries are not on it, including Serbia, Ukraine and Albania. You still need a PPS number and must register with Revenue²⁵. If you live in an EU or EEA country, the EURES (European Employment Services) advisers at your public employment service can advise you on jobs in Ireland before you travel, according to the official guide(opens in new tab)⁸.

Having the right to citizenship is not the same as holding the passport. If your application is still being processed, you work on Stamp 2 and everything in this guide applies to you.

UK citizens can live and work in Ireland without restriction and do not need an employment permit, as the Citizens Information page on UK citizens(opens in new tab)²⁷ explains.

With a visa the rules are the same, and a working holiday is a separate route

If you need a visa, you arrive on a long stay "D" visa and register at Burgh Quay before your landing stamp expires³. Everything in this guide applies to you.

If your country has a working holiday agreement with Ireland, there is another route for young people: an authorisation to spend up to a year in Ireland (up to two years for Canadians), paying for the stay with temporary work. Places are limited, and you cannot apply from inside Ireland. The ISD publishes the list of countries with an agreement(opens in new tab)²⁸.

What we could not source

No official source measures how long it takes a student to find a first job.

Still deciding

Income from work only starts after you register and find a job. The ISD also requires you to show enough money to support yourself without relying on casual work(opens in new tab)¹. Our guide to the cost of living in Ireland(opens in new tab) works out how much of your rent and other costs 20 hours a week at the minimum wage would cover.

Already decided

On the day you arrive, book your registration on the ISD portal(opens in new tab). You can work from the day of the appointment.
While you wait, look for work on JobsIreland(opens in new tab) and through licensed agencies(opens in new tab). Turn down any offer that asks for money or for your bank account.
Once hired, apply for your PPS number on MyWelfare(opens in new tab) and register the job with Revenue(opens in new tab) before your first payday.
On your first day, bring your passport with the registration stamp, or your IRP.
By your 5th day, check that you have your terms in writing. Every payday, check your payslip and that your hourly pay reaches the minimum wage for your age(opens in new tab).
Add up the hours from all your jobs every week: 20 at most, or 40 from June to September and from 15 December to 15 January, according to the ISD(opens in new tab).
If you are missing a right and talking to your employer does not solve it, complain to the WRC(opens in new tab).
Before your IRP expires, apply to renew on the renewals portal(opens in new tab) and keep the receipt to show your employer.

Verified on 19 October 2026.

Immigration rules and figures change without notice. If you are reading this months after the verification date, check the original sources before you start work.