Cost of Sponsoring a Work Permit
Only one part of this is a fixed government fee. Everything else depends on choices you make: whether you use an advisor, which platform you advertise on, and how much of the process your own team runs. There is no single honest “total cost” figure, so this guide breaks out what is fixed and what is not.
What is actually fixed
Only the €1,000 government application fee is set by DETE and the same for every applicant in this category. Everything below it is variable, driven by whether you use legal help, which job board you advertise on, and how much internal time the process takes you.
Cost breakdown
Government permit fee
The Employment Permits Online application fee for most permits up to 24 months. If the application is unsuccessful, 90% of this fee is refunded. This is the one number in this guide that is fixed and set by DETE, not an estimate.
Legal or immigration advisor fees
Optional, but many first-time sponsors use one. Advisor and immigration solicitor fees vary significantly by firm and by how straightforward the case is. For a single uncomplicated application, quotes commonly fall somewhere in the €1,000 to €3,000 range; a complex case (a role near an eligibility boundary, a prior refusal, or several permits at once) costs more. Get a fixed quote before instructing anyone.
Labour Market Needs Test advertising
GEP applications that require the test need the vacancy advertised on jobsireland.ie (free, run through DSP Employment Services or EURES) and one other online jobs platform for 28 consecutive days. The second listing's fee is typically modest and depends entirely on the platform you choose. CSEP applications never require this step, so this cost disappears entirely if the role qualifies for Critical Skills.
Internal HR and admin time
Gathering the candidate's documents, drafting the contract of employment, coordinating with whoever manages your EPOS account, and tracking the application through to a decision. Not a line item on an invoice, but real hours, and the single biggest source of delay when nobody owns the process end to end.
EPOS account setup
Registering and validating your Employment Permits Online employer account is a one-off task the first time you sponsor anyone, built on Revenue documentation and your CRO number. It carries no application fee of its own; the cost is the time it takes to assemble the right documents and get the account validated before you can submit anything.
The one lever that changes the total most
Whether the role qualifies for the Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP) matters more to your total cost than any single fee on this page. CSEP skips the Labour Market Needs Test entirely, which removes the advertising cost and a meaningful chunk of admin time. If the role sits on the Critical Skills Occupations List and clears the salary threshold, that path is usually cheaper and faster than the General Employment Permit route, not just simpler on paper.