International Student Visa

International Student Visa

Getting an International Student Visa in Ireland.

The main conditions of being a full-time English Language Programme Non-EEA student are as follows: The maximum time a student may stay in Ireland for the purpose of attending courses at language/non-degree level is limited to two years (new regulation October 2015). The conditions below must be complied with:

You must have a Letter of Acceptance from the college, confirming you have been accepted and enrolled on a course of full-time day-time education involving a minimum of 15 hours organised daytime tuition each week between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

You must have proof that fees have been paid to the college. Where your fees are below €6,000, the full amount of the fees must be paid in advance.

You must have access to €3,000 at first registration. This is in addition to your course fees.

You must comply with Medical Insurance requirements.

The GNIB card has been replaced by the Irish Residence Permit (IRP). For more information about the IRP, please see this website: http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/irish-residence-permit. Please note that you have to confirm your address when you apply for this permit, and that it costs 300. If you lose your IRP card, you will need to pay this again, so please be careful with your card and keep it safe.

Study Requirements

In order to comply with the conditions of the International Student visa, students are required to attend class for 15 hours per week for 25 weeks and to sit an external end-of- course examination

On enrolment, Dublin Centre of Education gives each student a written timetable clearly identifying the daily and weekly tuition times, with defined course commencement and course completion dates. Holiday periods must be agreed at this time. The individual programme schedule (including holiday periods) must be presented by the student for inspection to the Immigration Officer during the student’s registration at the GNIB.

The programme timetable must be set out in such a way that holiday periods cannot at any point exceed 1/3 of the total weeks elapsed (front-loading of holidays is not permitted).

Entitlement to Work (Casual Employment).

Students who are attending a full-time course of 8 months duration (new regulation October 2015) are entitled to seek employment on a casual basis.

Casual employment means you can work for 20 hours per week during term time, or full-time (up to 40 hours) during June, July, August and September, and between 15th December and 15th January.

Please see the following website for more information on this: http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20-%20Students#Q17

When you are looking for a job, please be careful and research your new employer if you can. Some students have fallen victim to fraudulent employers or work scams, and this leaves them out of pocket. If something doesn’t seem right, don’t take the job. Try to find a job through a reputable website or agency, or in a known business.

Some useful websites to find a job in Ireland:

Gumtree
Jobs.ie
Irish Jobs
Recruit Ireland
Monster