Ireland’s Working Holiday Visa: Part II – Arriving in Ireland
So you’ve done it! You have your visa in hand and a flight booked. The songs of the Emerald Isle are calling to you and you’re ready to go. But the visa is just the beginning of many details to figure out when it comes to moving to Ireland on a working holiday. Now comes figuring out where you want to live, finding a flat, registering with immigration, opening a bank account, and most importantly, finding a job. But don’t worry – it may sound overwhelming, but it’s all in the name of adventure, right?
The best piece of advice I can give you is to take a deep breath. It feels overwhelming that you have to figure all of this out at once. But you will, and you’ll move to Ireland, and it will be grand. You’ll settle into a routine soon enough, and life will start to feel like normal again. Just stay focused on the goal. The details are all secondary.
|| Finding a Place to Live
Depending on where to live in Ireland, your experience finding housing will differ. But know that if you chose Dublin as many do, it will not be easy to find a place to live. Not to be a downer, but be realistic going into this – you will have to work hard to find housing. Dublin has a housing shortage and so it isn’t always easy to find apartments that are both affordable and available. But that shouldn’t scare you off – those who have gone before you are managing just fine! Just use extreme caution and your best judgement. Scammers exist, so listen to your instinct if you see red flags on listings.
Some great sites for searching available apartments or rooms for share are Rent.ie or Daft.ie. You can also register and match with room listings on Easy Roommate.
|| Or Finding the Program Right For You
If finding housing is too intimidating while you’re still state-side, there are some other options as well. Trust me, I feel that. I was worried about getting scammed and not being on the ground to see the apartment before putting money down or meeting potential roommates before signing up to live with strangers. There are programs that help provide housing for varying amounts of time, as well as make your transition smoother.
One is Stint Ireland – they provide services like helping get you settled (with a network of other expat gap years and interns), they provide you with insurance, and more in their program fee. The fee also includes eight weeks of housing. Someone will pick you up at the airport and you’ll have a bed for at least the first two months while you’re in Dublin, so you have some time to look for an apartment while on the ground. Or if you chose, once the eight weeks is up, you can stay in the house longer (for the full year even) – you just start paying rent monthly. Other programs like Work In Ireland provide one, three, or five nights (depending on the package chosen) in housing to get you on your feet.
While I had some reservations about the added cost, I ultimately chose to go through Stint Ireland as I was very anxious about signing on to housing before arriving in Ireland. Stint has provided me time to settle and start working before starting to look for a place for my own, which definitely made the process less stressful.
|| Immigration (GNIB) Appointment
First you’ll need to make and attend a Garda appointment with Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Services. Be sure to leave plenty of time in your day for this because despite having a scheduled appointment time, it can take a long time to get through everything. They hope to have you in and out in your appointment hour but I ended up being there for about two and a half hours, so I was grateful I didn’t have to rush back to work. Because of this, the closer you can book your appointment to your arrival date, the better. This way you can get it out of the way before you start working. Again, you can book your appointment up to ten weeks in advance here.
You will need to bring your passport and your visa with you to the appointment, as well as a way to show the email confirming your appointment. You will also need to pay a registration fee of €300, so budget for this in advance (you can pay via credit/debit card). It’s a lot like sitting at the DMV – you’ll get a number and when it’s finally your turn, you’ll approach the counter to have your documents looked over and have your picture taken. You’ll wait again until they scan your fingerprints. Finally they’ll give your passport back with your new residency card. And you’re free to go!
|| Finding a Job
Don’t be discouraged if you arrive in Ireland without a job lined up. I received the same response from several applications I sent in – let’s talk when you’re on the ground. Once you are physically in Ireland (bonus points – put your Irish address and a local Irish phone number on your resume), you’ll start having more luck. Still, the job market is competitive everywhere, so finding a job won’t happen right away.
Temp Work
The best advice I can give when it comes to finding work is what I was given. Temp work. Temp work has been a literal godsend because of how fast I was able to start working. Be proactive. I contacted two temp agencies. I attached my resume, introduced myself, and explained that I was here on a WHA visa seeking temp work. They contacted me back within days and brought me in to get officially registered. Within a week, I had my first placement.
Stay proactive – if you aren’t getting work, don’t be afraid to email them to let them know that you’re available. Another great thing about temp work is that it provides a lot of flexibility, so if you’re on a WHA visa to travel as much as you can in your spare time, this could be great for you. You can chose when you can’t work, so if you decide to take a week off or a long weekend here and there, you can. Or if you want to accept placements for two months and then take a month off to travel, you can.
And ultimately if you still want full-time resume-boosting work, keep looking! Temp work is just a great way to work until you land something more permanent.
Once you do start working, or once you meet with a temp agency, make sure to ask for a letter from your employer/agency that confirms your employment (and states you Irish address somewhere on it). You will need this for the next step.
|| Getting a PPS Number
Great! You are officially immigrated! Next, you will need to open a bank account with a local Irish bank. And in order to do that, you will first need a PPS number.
You’ll need to make an appointment. To do so, make an account on MyWelfare.ie. Then click on the purple box ‘appointments’. Choose to make a Personal Public Service (PPS) Number for yourself, and continue through to make your appointment. You can always reschedule if need be, but best to schedule this as soon as you can. As with your Garda appointment, you will have to wait in a queue, so leave time in your day for your appointment.
When you attend your appointment, you will need to bring a employment letter and your visa and passport. Make sure that the employment letter states your address while in Ireland and clearly states when you began working. If you are registered with a temp agency, you will need your letter to show the date of your first placement, so you will have to wait until you start working a placement to ask for a letter. It’s also best to have an Irish phone number set up by now, whether you get a local phone or are using a SIM card, as they will text you a code that you will need to confirm.
After your appointment, you will receive a letter at your address in about five business days with your shiny new PPS number on it. You’ll later receive an official card with your number on it in the mail as well.
|| Opening a Bank Account
Now that you have a PPS number, it’s time to check off the final big obstacle in settling down – opening a bank account. Money! No more foreign transaction fees!
I’ll recommend the bank that was recommended to me by other gap years – Permanent TSB.
Opening a bank is another process that will require specific documentation. You will need proof of identification (your Passport works) as well as very specific proof of address. The best way I can recommend doing this is to set up an account on revenue.ie as soon as possible. You will need to do this when working anyways. The bank will mail you your log-in password. This letter (which usually comes in about five business days) will work as your proof of address. If you aren’t paying utilities directly because you’re subleasing or you don’t have an official lease, etc. it can be hard to provide documentation that they’ll accept. They turned away my letter from my employer with my address on it, but they accepted my Revenue letter.
You can set up an appointment to open your account online. You’ll receive your new card in the mail a few days later!
|| Register with Revenue
Your final step in settling is to update your information on your Revenue.IE account. Revenue will then mail your password login so you can access your account online. You’ll need to register your employers – on MyAccount, click ‘add job or pension’. You will need to have your employer’s tax registration number. Be sure to ask for that from Payroll if it isn’t provided to you. You and your employer will be issued a tax credit certificate ensuring that the correct amount of tax is deducted for that job or pension. Before you do this, you will be on what’s known as ’emergency tax’ which will take a significant chunk out of your paycheck, so be sure to do this as soon as you can!
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And that’s it! It’s a lot, but the sooner you get it done, the sooner you will finally feel settled – and that’s an incredibly rewarding feeling.
Stay tuned for Part III on my experience with the working holiday visa!
XX, J
Atiriya Hari
Hey there Jordan!
Firstly, THANK YOU for you publishing these blogs. I have been searching far and wide for this specific content. I travelled around Ireland for 2 weeks this August, and I fell in love. I’m so eager to do a working holiday in Ireland, but being a recent college grad, I am also worried about paying off my student loans. If you don’t mind my asking, how did you manage that financial aspect of the working holiday journey?
I’m so looking forward to reading about the rest of your adventures. Keep ’em coming. 😀
Also, if you feel like a laugh, feel free to pop over to my blog http://scrambledthoughts08.wordpress.com! I write humorous short stories and poetry, and I’d love to know your thoughts. Thank you for reading!!
Cheers,
Atiriya
jbswope
Atiriya HariHi Atiriya! I’m so glad you find it helpful – I started writing them because I struggled to find much content on it as well when I was researching moving over here. So happy you fell in love with Ireland! Isn’t it just such a beautiful country? The working holiday visa has been amazing and I’ve loved living here, so I can’t recommend it enough.
As far as finances go, I was in a bit of a unique situation where my hometown offered scholarships that helped me avoid loans to worry about after college, so I’m afraid I may not have best advice because I got really lucky. I will say that to be eligible for the WHA visa, you simply have to apply before your 12 months post-grad is up – you don’t necessarily need to leave by then. So I actually didn’t go right after graduation but instead I spent a year working and that allowed me to save up money to fund my travels and help me feel a bit more financially secure in the move. I applied at the end of that first year out of college, then left for Ireland a few months later. I will be honest and say that a housing crisis has made Dublin an expensive city to live in. My job basically covers my monthly bills and living costs and I’ve had to dip into my savings to travel. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find good housing, jobs, etc! And when you get to Ireland, I definitely recommend signing up for temp work through a few agencies to get you started – you can still search for a full time job, but it’s a great way to start making money as soon as possible and the jobs usually pay well! Hope this helps a little and if you decide to go forward with the visa, please let me know if you have any questions and I’m happy to help! Love your site! Cheers xx
Rachael
hi! were you able to leave in your visa to travel other places and return to ireland? I am wanting to travel other places and maybe go back to the US during my visa and I am not finding clear answers that I can do that.
Thanks!!
jbswope
RachaelHi Rachael! You can definitely leave Ireland and come back while on your visa. I travel around Europe a lot of weekends and I have friends who have gone back to the States for the holidays with no problems!
Sherman
This is truly helpful, thanks.
Alisha
Super helpful post!!!! Really appreciate it. Random question, regarding taxes. Since your on a working holiday visa did you have to pay Universal social charge and PRSI? If yes, did you get a refund back? Since you cant claim these services I assume you would get a refund. Thanks 🙂
Ryan
Hi, kudos on this extremely helpful blog and beautiful photos on your IG. I haven’t been able to figure out if I can start working prior to receiving a GNIB card and PPS. I’m flying next week and there are no appointments available through the website for the GNIB so a wee bit nervous about that. Thanks, any advice would be lovely.
Rachel
hi! i’m very interested in moving to ireland but due to wanting financial security would like to move in september but my year after graduation ends in may. if I understand from the post above you only have to apply within a year of graduation but can move after? is that right? is there a time limit of when you have to move to ireland? thanks so much for the detailed post it has helped a lot!!
jbswope
RachelHey, yep that’s true! My year post-graduation expired in April, but I didn’t leave for Ireland until the end of June! You just need to have your application turned in before that year is up. You can double check with your nearest consulate (where you’d be sending your application) to double check that that hasn’t changed, but that’s how it went for me! Good luck with your visa – you’ll have an amazing time!! 🙂
James
Thank you for posting such detailed information! It’s been really helpful for me as I’ve gotten situated here in Ireland. You are doing the world a service!
I’m currently in temporary housing in Dublin (daft alerts have become a way of life), and I’m looking to start work now that the holidays are over. Which temp agencies did you find the most success with? I’ve only been in touch with La Creme so far, and I’m unsure of how many I should reach out to.
Any information or context from your experience would be really wonderful. Thank you!
jbswope
JamesHey James! Thanks for reading it, I’m glad it’s helpful! I didn’t find much info when I was moving abroad online so glad I could provide some for those looking now. Hoping you find housing soon! It’s such a mess there, I remember the Daft days haha. I used La Creme as well and had my best luck through them, but I definitely recommend registering with more than one! I also used CPL in the beginning, and a lot of the gap years I know recommended Lex Consultancy. Once you’re registered you just have to be proactive and keep asking them for work – it can feel a bit over the top at first but don’t feel like you’re annoying them – it’ll keep your name on their radar and you’ll start getting more and more work. When you register, if you have any previous admin or receptionist experience, hype it up. I think that was what helped me get long-term placements right out of the door – they trusted my experience. Best of luck!!
Lisa
Hi Jordan!
I came across your blog while researching the working holiday visa steps. I just got back from my working holiday in Dublin a week ago! I was wondering what steps you took when leaving Ireland, like taxes and revenue.ie? I can’t seem to find any information if I need to inform the country that I’m gone or not.
Would love your help! Thanks!
Lisa
Kenzie
Hey Jordan,
I just came across your blog post and was very intrigued as I am considering applying for a WHV. Is it easy to apply to full time jobs with this visa, like if I wanted to get a job that could then sponsor me so I could live in Ireland fully after 12 months?
Thanks,
Kenzie
jbswope
KenzieHi Kenzie! You can definitely apply for full time jobs on this visa – a lot of people do in hopes of getting set up a job that will sponsor them in the future. I started out temping for a few months while I job searched but had a full time job for the last 9 months of my visa. My advice is to start applying before you get to Ireland and also don’t be afraid to have the conversation that you’re looking to get sponsored once your visa is up early on! That way you aren’t wasting your time on companies that won’t help you in the end and you can find a job that has a long-term vision. Hope that helps and good luck in your job search!