Ireland began accepting applications for its Temporary Protection Transition Scheme at noon on Wednesday 30 September 2026. The scheme lets people who came to Ireland from Ukraine under the EU Temporary Protection Directive move to a Stamp 4 permission, granted for up to two years and renewable for further two-year periods, and time on it counts towards naturalisation, which time under temporary protection does not. To qualify, an applicant must have held temporary protection in Ireland for at least a year, must have worked or been self-employed for the six months before the scheme opened with gross earnings of at least €29,432 a year, and must live in independent accommodation rather than State-contracted, rapid-build or hosted housing. Applications go through the Immigration Service online portal until 30 March 2027. The Minister of State for Migration, Colm Brophy, said the permission is meant "to incentivise work, upskilling and progression to independent living, while providing clarity and certainty for people in advance of the ending of Temporary Protection".
Background
Ireland has issued 121,048 Personal Public Service Numbers to Ukrainians as beneficiaries of temporary protection since March 2022, and 84,100 of them were still active in administrative records in February 2026, according to the Central Statistics Office as reported by RTÉ; just over 29,000 were in paid work, with average weekly earnings of €540. The Government announced the scheme on 26 May 2026 alongside the phase-out of State-contracted commercial accommodation for Ukrainians between August 2026 and March 2027. The EU directive behind temporary protection has been extended to 4 March 2028 under Council Implementing Decision 2026/1912; the scheme is Ireland's answer to what comes after. Anyone who does not qualify, or does not apply, keeps their temporary-protection rights, including residence, work, education and social welfare, for as long as the directive is in force.
What exactly changed
Three tests apply to the principal applicant. Residence: a year as a beneficiary of temporary protection before the scheme opened, so the person must have been in Ireland on that status on or before 30 September 2025; absences of up to 90 days in total are disregarded, but a year on temporary protection in another EU state does not count. Income: six months of continuous employment or self-employment immediately before 30 September 2026, still ongoing at application, at gross earnings of at least €29,432 a year, which the FAQ says means being in work on or before 30 March 2026; part-time work and several jobs can be combined, and TÚS and Community Employment income counts, but social-welfare payments, savings and a spouse's or adult child's earnings do not. Accommodation: a rental contract, letting-agent letter, Residential Tenancies Board registration or proof of ownership; informal arrangements with friends or family are not accepted, although a person can apply on the day they move in. Good character applies to everyone. Approval ends temporary protection, and the holder must register the Stamp 4 with Immigration Service Delivery within 90 days. A refusal can be appealed by email within 30 working days before a different officer, and a refused applicant keeps temporary protection.
Who counts as family
- A spouse, civil partner or de facto partner who has lived with the principal applicant in Ireland under temporary protection for a year on 30 September 2026 and lives in independent accommodation.
- Children under 18 who were resident in Ireland with the principal applicant before 30 September 2026; children outside Ireland cannot be included.
- Unmarried adult children aged 18 to 23 who have lived with the principal applicant for a year, working or not; a married adult child applies separately, and adult children over 23 qualify only where a disability makes independent living impossible.
- Parents and grandparents are not family members for this scheme and must qualify in their own right.
- Each family member files a separate application linked by a Family Identifier; the principal applicant's income covers the family, and if the principal applicant is refused, every linked application is refused.
Who it affects and what to do
The scheme is built for people already in work and already renting. A warehouse worker in Cork who arrived in 2022, has been with the same employer since early 2026 and rents through a letting agent can apply now, with a partner and school-age children on linked applications. A person who started a job in May 2026 has only five months of work on 30 September and does not qualify, and there is no later opening: residence after 30 September does not count towards the one-year test, and no application is accepted after 30 March 2027. Someone on the €540 weekly average the CSO reported in February is about €26 a week short of the threshold. A family in a State-contracted hotel cannot apply until it has a tenancy of its own, and a Ukrainian married to an Irish citizen cannot use the spouse's income. The income evidence is at least two of four document types covering the six months: a minimum of four payslips, an employment contract or employer letter, Revenue records, and bank statements, plus the tenancy evidence; the self-employed need their Revenue indicative calculation and full trading accounts. Applying does not put temporary protection at risk: it stays active while the application is pending and ends only on approval, and the FAQ says a person who changes their mind can return to temporary protection in person at Citywest, though not to State-supported accommodation. Two consequences follow a grant: a Ukrainian driving licence is recognised only while on temporary protection, so a Stamp 4 holder needs an Irish or EU/EEA licence, and the scheme creates no new family-reunification right for relatives outside Ireland. The Government has separately proposed lengthening the residence needed to naturalise (/news/ireland-citizenship-eight-year-residence-2026); our Ireland guide covers the permission system (/country-guides/ireland).
When it takes effect
Applications opened at 12:00 on 30 September 2026 and close on 30 March 2027. The permission runs for two years from the date of the grant letter and is renewable in two-year periods. Temporary protection itself runs until 4 March 2028.
What is not yet confirmed
The Department has not published processing times. The FAQ says approved holders "may access state funds and services as determined by Government departments or agencies", without listing which payments continue after the move from temporary protection. No estimate has been published of how many of the 84,100 active beneficiaries meet the income and accommodation tests.
Key Takeaway
Ukrainians in Ireland with a year on temporary protection, six months of continuous work at €29,432 gross a year and a tenancy of their own can apply until 30 March 2027 for a two-year Stamp 4 that counts towards citizenship; everyone else keeps temporary protection until 4 March 2028.