Ireland Working Holiday Visa for Canadians: A Starter Guide

Benefits of Embarking on the Working Holiday Visa in Ireland

• Live, work and travel in Ireland for up to two years. This gives you enough time to properly explore the Emerald Isle, and visit many other European countries too!
• No entry or exit limit! Meaning you can come and go as many times as you please. You can travel to other countries in Europe, or come home to Canada for a visit. The only thing to keep in mind is that even while you are outside of Ireland, your two-year visa duration is still ticking away.
• It’s an open work visa, which means you can work in any type of job for any duration (up to 24 months, of course). Unlike Australia, there are no working restrictions here that would limit the industry you can work in or the length of time you can work for one employer on this visa.
• You can apply for the Irish Working Holiday Visa whether you are living inside or outside of Canada.

Important Note

The Ireland Working Holiday Visa is only valid in the Republic of Ireland (think Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick), not in Northern Ireland (Belfast). This is because Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom. The great news is that Canadians can get a working holiday visa for the UK too! You can learn what Canadians need to know about the UK Working Holiday Visa here. Careful, however, the age limit to apply is 30 years old for the UK.

What is the Ireland Working Holiday Visa age limit?

Canadian citizens between the ages of 18 and 35, inclusively, can apply for the Ireland Working Holiday Visa. This means you can start preparing your application while you are 17, as long as you submit it after your 18th birthday. It also means you can still submit your application when you are 35. As long as you submit it before your 36th birthday, you can enter Ireland on your working holiday visa when you are 36 and stay for up to two years.

Ireland Working Holiday Visa Eligibility

In order to be eligible to apply for a Working Holiday Visa in Ireland, you must meet the following requirements:

• Be a Canadian citizen
• Be between 18 and 35 years old at the time of application
• Have a Canadian passport that is valid for at least 30 months from the date you plan to enter Ireland
• Do not have any dependents – this visa can only be used for yourself
• Have insurance coverage for a minimum of one year (even if you plan to spend less than a year in Ireland on your working holiday)
• Have funds to support yourself during your stay (minimum of $2,500 CAD)

Application Process for the Ireland Working Holiday Visa

It’s fairly straightforward. We’ve broken it down into four steps below. As long as you read carefully and double-check you have completed each requirement correctly, it should be smooth sailing to the Emerald Isle!

Step One: Gather Your Documents

The Irish Government provides applicants with a Working Holiday Authorization checklist. This checklist will help you make sure you do not miss any required documents. In the application, the Irish Government provides four forms to complete and requires you to provide additional supporting documents.

The Applications Forms for the Ireland Working Holiday Visa

• Terms and Conditions
• Insurance Declaration
• Application Form
• Checklist
• Additional Supporting Documents Needed
• Fully completed working holiday visa application form, signed and dated
• Two passport-sized photos with white backgrounds
• Your passport (valid for 30 months from your entry date)
• Proof of your purchased insurance for 12 months starting from your entry date, regardless of the duration you plan to stay in Ireland
• Bank statement showing at least $2,500 CAD in support funds

The bank statement cannot be a photocopy or printed out from your online banking. This will result in your application being denied. You must go into your bank and request a statement or letter with an original stamp or signature.

Step Two: Submit Your Application & Fees

Once you have all your documents gathered, you must mail them along with your payment to the Irish Embassy in Ottawa. Address your envelope as follows:

Working Holiday Visa
Embassy of Ireland
130 Albert Street Suite 1105
Ottawa ON
K1P 5G4

We highly recommend that you mail your package in a registered envelope so that you are given a tracking number. This will be useful to make sure your package arrives in Ottawa.

Ireland Working Holiday Visa Fees

The working holiday visa costs $150 CAD. Payment must be made in Canadian dollars by credit card, personal cheque, or by getting a bank draft, money order, or certified cheque from the bank. You must also include money for the return postage. Either $15 for registered mail (slower) or $60 for courier (faster).

Processing Time

The typical processing time between submitting your application and receiving your passport back is six to eight weeks. Be sure to allow this much time (plus extra for precaution) before boarding your flight to Ireland.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to COVID-19, the Embassy has stopped processing all working holiday visa applications for Ireland. It is unknown if the processing times next year will be different due to a backlog of applicants, or changes in the application process. If you would like to receive updates on when the Irish Embassy will resume processing working holiday visa applications, fill in the form at the bottom of this post.

Step Three: Receive Your Working Holiday Visa and Head to Ireland!

Once you have received your passport back from the Embassy in the mail, your working holiday visa will be inside. Congrats!

With the working holiday visa for Ireland is in your hands, you have 12 months to enter the country and activate it. If you do not enter Ireland within 12 months from the date on the visa, your visa will expire and you won’t be able to use it. And because you can only receive this visa once in your life, unfortunately, you won’t be allowed to reapply.

Step Four: Register with GNIB

Once you arrive in Ireland, you have one month to register with the Garda Nation Immigration Bureau, or GNIB. This registration certificate is required to receive your Irish Residence Permit (IRP) which allows you to legally stay and work in Ireland. Without this certificate, you cannot get your PPS (the Irish version of a SIN number), a bank account, or a job. Therefore, it’s very important to get your IRP as soon as possible after arriving in Ireland.

The fee for this certificate is €300 and only has to be paid once for the duration of your two-year working holiday visa.

Internship Visa in Ireland

Did you know young Canadians are eligible for another type of visa too? If you are a student registered at a post-secondary institution in Canada, and are between 18 and 35, you are eligible to apply for the International Co-op Internship Visa. Even if your academic program does not have a required internship or co-op, you can still complete an internship abroad in Ireland!

In your application, you must include a letter from your institution confirming you are a registered student for the duration of your visa and that your work placement aligns with your field of studies, or meets your program’s co-op requirements. This visa allows you to stay for up to one year.

Canadians can get both the Irish Working Holiday Visa and International Co-op visa in their lifetime, meaning you can spend up to three years in Ireland! Take note – you are required to exit Ireland between visas, but that’s nothing a quick trip can’t fix!