Critical Skills Visa Salary Checker

The minimum gross annual base salary is €40,904 for degree-qualified applicants in eligible occupations (the Standard tier). Applicants without a relevant degree must meet a higher threshold of €68,911. Recent graduates of Irish institutions (within the last two years) qualify for a lower threshold of €36,848. These are DETE figures effective 2026.

Only gross annual base salary as stated in your employment contract counts toward the Minimum Annual Remuneration (MAR). Bonuses, RSUs, stock options, health insurance, pension contributions, car allowances, relocation payments, and sign-on payments are all excluded. This catches many tech applicants off-guard because big-tech compensation packages are heavily weighted toward equity and variable pay.

No. Even a contractually guaranteed bonus is excluded from the MAR calculation in most cases. DETE evaluates base salary only. If your base salary falls short by any amount, even €1, your application will be rejected. The fix is to negotiate the base salary upward before signing the contract.

Roles must appear on DETE's Critical Skills Occupations List. Common qualifying tech roles include Software Engineer, Data Engineer, Cloud and Platform Engineer, AI and ML Engineer, DevOps and SRE, Cybersecurity Engineer, Solutions Architect, and Product Manager (technical). The role title in your employment contract must match an eligible occupation on the current list. Verify against the official DETE list before submitting.

Your application will be rejected. DETE does not round up, does not accept partial shortfalls, and has no appeals process for salary-related rejections. A salary of €40,900 against a threshold of €40,904 is a €4 shortfall and a rejected application. If your current offer is below the threshold, negotiate the base salary with your employer before the contract is signed. Once signed, changing the salary requires a contract amendment and re-submission.

The threshold applies to the annualised equivalent of your salary. If your role is less than full-time, DETE calculates what the salary would be on a full-time basis and compares that against the threshold. A 0.8 FTE role at €44,000 annualised falls to a €35,200 effective salary, below the €40,904 threshold, and would be rejected.

A Critical Skills Employment Permit is initially granted for two years. After two years, you can apply for a Stamp 4 permission, which allows you to work without an employment permit and to change employer without restriction. After five years of continuous residence on the right permissions, you may be eligible to apply for Irish citizenship.

Yes. Critical Skills Employment Permit holders are eligible to apply for a Dependant Partner or Spouse Employment Permit, which allows an accompanying spouse or partner to work in Ireland without restriction, in any role, from the moment you receive your Critical Skills Permit. This is a significant advantage over many other permit categories.

Irish employment permit law prohibits a company from employing more than 50% non-EEA nationals. If your prospective employer has already reached that threshold, no further Critical Skills Permits can be granted regardless of your qualifications or salary. Waivers exist for Enterprise Ireland-backed and IDA-backed companies. Ask HR to confirm their non-EEA headcount percentage before you submit your application.

No. The threshold is a statutory minimum floor designed to prevent exploitation, not a benchmark for competitive pay. For most tech roles in Ireland, the market median is significantly above the €40,904 floor. A Software Engineer at mid-level in Dublin earns a median of €75,000 to €90,000. Accepting an offer at or near the threshold means accepting below-market pay. Use the salary benchmarks linked below to check where your offer sits relative to the market before signing.