Last updated: August 2026
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If your employment permit application has been refused, you’re not alone and it’s not automatically the end of the road. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) must give you the specific reason for refusal, and you have 28 days to request a review. But some refusal reasons can be fixed at review stage, and some can’t. Knowing which is which decides whether you should appeal or start again.
Who this applies to
This covers refusals of any DETE employment permit: the General Employment Permit (GEP), Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP), Intra-Company Transfer, Contract for Services, Reactivation, and the others. If your permit was refused, or you’re worried it might be, this walks through why permits actually get refused, what you can and can’t fix afterwards, and what a review realistically costs you in time.
The most common reasons permits get refused
DETE processes applications strictly against the criteria set out in the Employment Permits Act 2024 and its regulations. There’s no discretion for a caseworker to wave through an application that misses a criterion, however small the gap. The recurring reasons are:
1. Salary below the minimum threshold. Every permit type has a legal minimum annual remuneration, and it changed on 1 March 2026. A General Employment Permit now needs a minimum of €36,605 a year, based on a 39-hour week, with lower rates for specific roles: €32,691 for Horticulture Workers, Meat Processor Operatives, Healthcare Assistants and Home Support Workers, and €34,009 for recent graduates of an Irish third-level college. A Critical Skills Employment Permit needs a minimum remuneration of €40,904, working out to an hourly rate of €20.17. Offer even slightly below the figure for the role and the application fails, full stop. enterprise + 2
2. The Labour Market Needs Test (LMNT) wasn’t done properly. For most General Employment Permit applications, the employer has to advertise the position with the DSP Employment Services/EURES network and place an additional advertisement on a separate online platform before applying. Missing one of the ads, running it for too short a period, or applying more than 90 days after the advert started, all trigger a refusal. enterprise
3. The 50/50 rule. DETE won’t issue a permit unless at least 50% of the employer’s workforce are EEA nationals at the time of application, with narrow exceptions for start-ups (with a letter of support from Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland) and employers with a single employee. This catches out small businesses that have already hired a few non-EEA staff more often than large ones. enterprise
4. The role is on the Ineligible List of Occupations. Some largely lower-skilled roles are closed to employment permits altogether, on the basis that there’s no evidence of a labour shortage in Ireland or the EEA for them. No salary level fixes this: if the job title is on the list, the application is refused regardless of pay.
5. Missing or incorrect documentation. Missing Revenue statements, an expired passport (permits need at least 6 months validity remaining for new applications, 3 months for renewals), unsigned contracts, or a mismatch between the job title on the application and the advert used for the LMNT. Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
6. Immigration status issues. If you’re applying from inside Ireland, your immigration stamp at the date of the application has to permit that kind of application.
Worked example: a refused General Employment Permit
Say an employer offers a Healthcare Assistant role at €30,000 and applies for a General Employment Permit in August 2026. The correct threshold for that role is €32,691, so the application is refused on remuneration alone, even though every other part of it (LMNT, documentation, 50/50 ratio) is in order. The fix here is straightforward: raise the salary to at least €32,691, and either request a review with evidence of the corrected offer, or withdraw and reapply with a corrected contract.
What to do if you’re refused
You have two options, and they’re mutually exclusive at any one time:
- Request a review, within 28 calendar days of the date on your refusal letter, through the employment permits online portal. A different, more senior official reviews the decision. Confirmation of a refusal on review doesn’t stop you submitting a fresh application afterwards. enterprise
- Withdraw and get a refund. If you don’t want to request a review, 90% of the fee you paid is refunded, whether the application was refused or you withdraw it. Refund requests are made using the form included with the refusal letter, and pay out within about 5 working days if the request comes in inside 170 days of the original payment; after that it needs a bank mandate form and is paid by transfer. Department of Enterprise, Trade and EmploymentDepartment of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
You can’t do both. If you submit a review request and later decide you’d rather have a refund, you have to formally withdraw the review request first.
Common mistake: applicants sometimes assume that lodging a review automatically pauses the clock on things like visa applications or start dates. It doesn’t. If your job offer has a start date attached, weigh the review timeline against just correcting the issue and reapplying.
Refusal reasons a review usually can’t fix
This is the part most guides skip, and it matters more than the review process itself. DETE is explicit that some refusal grounds cannot be rectified at review stage because the review only looks at the facts as they stood on the date of the original application: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
- LMNT failures. If the required advertising wasn’t done in the 90 days before the initial application, or wasn’t done to the regulations, it cannot be addressed at review. You’ll need to run the LMNT properly and submit a new application. Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
- Remuneration or job title errors, unless you have a credible explanation for why the original application information was incorrect or unclear. Simply having since raised the salary doesn’t count; DETE is judging what was true on the original application date. Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
- Immigration status and the 50/50 ratio. Both are assessed as of the date of the initial application, not the date of the review. Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
In practice, if your refusal falls into one of these categories, a fresh, corrected application is almost always faster than a review.
How long a review actually takes right now
This is the number most sources won’t give you, because it changes constantly. As of 13 August 2026, DETE was still working through review and appeal requests received on 5 January 2026, which puts the live wait at roughly seven months from submission to decision. Compare that with new General Employment Permit applications, which as of the same date were being processed from 9 July 2026, a gap of only a few weeks. If your refusal reason is one that can be fixed by a new application, that queue is very often the faster route. DETE publishes its current processing dates and updates them regularly, so check them again before you decide. Citizens InformationCitizens Information
Mistakes that make things worse
- Reapplying with the same mistake. If you were refused for an LMNT problem, a new application still needs a fresh, correctly run 28-day advertising period; you can’t reuse the old adverts.
- Applying for a different permit type instead of fixing the issue. Switching from General to Critical Skills doesn’t dodge a 50/50 rule refusal; the 50/50 rule applies across most permit types.
- Missing the 28-day window. There’s no extension. Miss it and your only route is a fresh application.
- Assuming the employer can recover the permit fee from your wages. They can’t; deducting employment permit costs from an employee’s pay is prohibited under the Employment Permits Act 2024.
Frequently asked questions
Can I appeal a work permit refusal in Ireland more than once?
Yes, but there’s a limit built into the design: once a review confirms the refusal, your next move is a fresh application, not a second review of the same decision.
Do I get my money back if my work permit is refused?
Yes. 90% of the fee is refunded, whether the application was refused outright or you choose to withdraw it instead of appealing. Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
How long does a work permit review take in Ireland?
It varies with the backlog, but as of August 2026 it’s running at roughly seven months from submission to decision, considerably slower than a new application.
Can I start a new job while my review is pending?
No. You can only have one live application (including a review) for the same person at a time, and you can’t work on a refused permit while the review is decided.
Does a refusal affect future applications?
Not directly, provided the underlying issue is corrected. A refusal on its own isn’t held against you if the reapplication properly addresses the reason given.
Next steps
- Read your refusal letter carefully and identify exactly which criterion you failed. DETE is required to give you the specific reasons. Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
- Check whether that reason is one that can be fixed at review (documentation, a credible salary correction) or one that can’t (LMNT, 50/50 ratio, immigration status at the application date).
- Compare the current review queue against new-application processing dates on the DETE current processing dates page before deciding which route to take. Citizens Information
- If you’re not confident reading the refusal reasons yourself, an immigration solicitor can usually tell within minutes whether a review is worth the seven-month wait.
This article is general information, not legal or immigration advice. Get advice from a qualified immigration solicitor for your specific situation.
