Dent Recruit Contributor
Intro
Ireland is one of the best places to live and work as a dental professional. With its stable political situation, prosperous economy and good health and education systems, it makes it a great country to bring up a family. Career-wise, you could also be one of the top dental earners in Europe. So how easy is it to make the move, and what will you need to do?
Before you book any plane tickets, you need to reach out to our team at Dent Recruit. We can tell you what your first steps should be to make the move as smooth as possible. The first question we’ll ask is what country did you qualify in? This is important to register with the Irish Dental Council. Once you’re registered, you can look for a job. If you graduated from an EU member state, your qualifications are automatically recognised by the IDC (as long as you meet their English language requirements). If you studied outside of the EU, you will have to sit and complete a two part exam. Our team can advise you on what documentation you need, and what you must apply for before you leave your own country.
Critical Skills Employment Permit
When you’re ready to travel we can help you apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit. Ireland has a massive shortage of dentists. This means as a non-Irish dentist, you’re encouraged to take up permanent residence in the country with this type of visa. The Critical Skills Employment Permit also allows you to bring your family over.
An application for this permit must be received at least 12 weeks before the proposed employment start date and there’s also a fee of €1000.
What it allows you to do:
Permit holders can apply for immediate family reunification from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service. Once your family is resident in the State they are eligible to seek work and apply to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for visas too.
There’s some flexibility with the permit also. You can also change jobs and employers after one year working for the original employer- subject to applying for a new employment permit.
After 2 years when the permit has lapsed, you can apply to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service for permission to reside and work without a permit.
Holding a critical skills employment permit for 2 consecutive years enables you then to apply for a Stamp 4. This will allow you to work without a sponsor in Ireland. You could even set up your own practice.
Stamp 4
If you’ve satisfied all the Critical skills permit conditions, you’ll be issued with an immigration permission to reside and work in Ireland without the need for a further employment permit. This is called a Stamp 4 (Permission to Remain). With Stamp 4, you’re allowed to work for someone, can be self-employed, can set up a business, and study. You can also apply for citizenship and you may access state funds and publicly funded services.
Naturalisation
After 60 months living in Ireland, you can make an application for long term residence, otherwise known as naturalisation. All applications to become a naturalised Irish citizen are decided by Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) on behalf of the Minister for Justice.
You can apply online for Irish citizenship, details here inis.gov.ie.
A quick recap of what you need to do to work and live as a dentist in Ireland:
Make sure you’re eligible to work as a dentist by registering with the IDC.
Look for a job in Ireland with Dent Recruit.
Once you’ve a job lined up, you can apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit before you’re due to start.
After 2 years on this permit, you’re eligible for Stamp 4 . This means you’ve permanent residency status so you don’t need a sponsor and you can be self-employed.
After 60 months continuous residence you can now become an Irish citizen with all the benefits and privileges that entails, as well as apply for an Irish passport.
There is a lot of admin and form-filling when it comes to applying for visas and moving countries. Ireland has a streamlined route for non-Irish dentists to apply for specific work permits, so it should make the process a little less daunting. And you won’t have to do it on your own. DentRecruit.ie is a one stop recruitment shop for dental candidates and Irish dental clinics. If you’ve trained in the EU, the UAE, UK, or anywhere else in the world, we can help you make the transition to life in Ireland. We’ll look at your qualifications and fluency in English, and guide you on how to sit the Irish Dental Council exams, and apply for the Critical Skills employment permit. If you’re ready to make the move to Ireland, then take the first step and reach out to us at DentRecruit.ie.
[Imagery Source: Anete Lusina]
