Ireland closed its Immigrant Investor Programme in February 2023 and never replaced it, whatever some websites still claim. What remains is a country with one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, an English speaking legal system and one of the most powerful passports in the world, reachable through routes that reward enterprise, self sufficiency and ancestry rather than a cheque. Here is the honest map.
No new investor programme has replaced it, and none has been announced.
The minimum funding for an innovative, high potential business under STEP.
An Irish born grandparent entitles you to citizenship by descent today.
Ireland pairs an English speaking, common law environment with full EU membership, the only such combination left after Brexit. Dublin hosts the European headquarters of the world’s technology and pharmaceutical giants, the economy consistently outgrows the continent, and the Irish passport ranks among the most powerful on earth, carrying both EU rights and visa free access to the United Kingdom under the Common Travel Area.
Life in Ireland trades sunshine for community, forty shades of green and schools that feed into an education system respected worldwide. Taxation is orthodox European with a famously competitive corporate regime, and tax treatment for foreign domiciled residents depends on circumstances and needs specialist advice. Dublin is expensive; Cork, Galway and Limerick considerably less so. We arrange specialist Irish tax advice for every client.
Ireland suits founders who want an EU base with common law contracts, families of Irish descent ready to claim what is already theirs, and financially independent people content to show income rather than make a qualifying investment. It does not currently suit passive investors seeking residence for capital alone, and we will always say so plainly.
From Foreign Births Registration to STEP business cases, our specialists have carried Irish files across the line since long before the golden visa era began, and long after it ended.
The Immigrant Investor Programme closed to new applications on 15 February 2023 after a decade of operation, and no replacement programme has been announced. Existing IIP holders keep their permissions, renewing on the original terms with one visit to Ireland a year. For new applicants the working routes are the Start Up Entrepreneur Programme, Stamp 0 self sufficiency, employment permits, and for many families the strongest route of all: citizenship by descent. The official position is published by Immigration Service Delivery at irishimmigration.ie.
STEP grants residence to non EEA nationals with an innovative, high potential business and at least 50,000 euros in funding. The business must be capable of creating ten jobs and reaching one million euros in sales within three years of starting up, and approval comes from an evaluation committee that meets through the year. Permission runs two years, renewable for three, with permanent pathways thereafter. It is a genuine working route for founders, and we prepare the business case to committee standard.
Stamp 0 permits financially independent people, typically retirees, to live in Ireland without working, on evidence of around 50,000 euros of annual income per person plus a capital reserve and private health insurance. It does not lead directly to citizenship and must be renewed periodically, but it puts you lawfully in Ireland, and time and circumstances have a way of opening doors that money alone cannot.
STEP: 50,000 euros minimum funding, ten projected jobs, one million euros projected sales. Stamp 0: roughly 50,000 euros annual income per person, plus a lump sum buffer. IIP holders: one visit to Ireland every twelve months keeps existing permissions alive. Citizenship by naturalisation: five years of reckonable residence out of the last nine, including one continuous final year. Citizenship by descent: an Irish born grandparent qualifies you today.
The quiet truth is that most successful cases we see now run through ancestry or enterprise. A single Irish born grandparent entitles you to Foreign Births Registration and a passport without ever moving; a parent born on the island makes it automatic. Founders pair STEP with Enterprise Ireland engagement to strengthen the committee case. And families who simply want the option later keep meticulous records of Irish visits and ties. We map every route in one assessment, in order of realism.
Three real roads lead to Ireland now, and they suit very different lives. We test all three for every family, in order of realism, before any money moves.
STEP puts entrepreneurs with 50,000 euros of funding and a credible plan inside the EU with common law contracts and a booming market.
Assess MeFinancially independent people can live along the Wild Atlantic Way on documented income of around 50,000 euros a year per person.
Am I Eligible?An Irish born parent or grandparent may already entitle you to the passport itself. Checking the certificates takes one conversation.
Contact UsMany Britons, Americans and Australians hold an unclaimed right to Irish citizenship through a grandparent. We trace and certify the chain to registry standard.
If one of your grandparents was born on the island of Ireland, you can register on the Foreign Births Register and hold an Irish passport without ever changing address. Many Britons, Americans, Canadians and Australians qualify without knowing it. It is the single most valuable ancestry rule in global migration, and checking takes one conversation.
Five years of reckonable residence in the previous nine, including a final continuous year, opens naturalisation, with good character requirements and a citizenship ceremony at the end. Time on STEP counts; time on Stamp 0 currently does not, which is exactly the kind of distinction that decides strategies years in advance.
Check descent first: it costs little and may finish the whole journey. Found a business second: STEP time builds toward naturalisation. Treat Stamp 0 as a lifestyle base rather than a passport route. Our assessment tests all three in an afternoon.
Certified passports, birth and marriage certificates for all applicants, consistent to the letter. For descent claims, the chain of birth and marriage certificates linking you to your Irish born ancestor is the entire case.
A committee grade business plan, evidence of at least 50,000 euros in funding, founder credentials and market validation, presented the way the evaluation committee actually reads.
For Stamp 0, documented annual income of around 50,000 euros per person from pensions, investments or rents, plus a capital buffer and private Irish health insurance.
Irish birth certificates from the General Register Office, civil marriage records and, where records burned or blurred, church registers and affidavits assembled to registry standard. We trace and certify the chain for you.
Criminal record certificates from countries of residence, sequenced early where issuing is slow, and full disclosure prepared for the good character assessments that every Irish route applies.
Prefer a conversation before anything formal? Our consultants answer Ireland questions with complete candour, including which routes genuinely lead to the passport.
Nearly three decades guiding successful emigrations worldwide.
Former Emigration Officials with deep, current knowledge of immigration law.
Considered, discreet guidance tailored precisely to your circumstances.
No. The Immigrant Investor Programme closed in February 2023 and nothing replaced it. Anyone marketing an Irish golden visa today is selling something that does not exist.
No. Existing approvals continue on their original terms, renewing as before, with at least one visit to Ireland every twelve months.
The Start Up Entrepreneur Programme: an innovative business, 50,000 euros of funding and a credible plan for jobs and sales. It rewards genuine founders rather than passive capital.
If a parent or grandparent was born on the island of Ireland, very likely yes. One conversation and a look at the family certificates usually settles it.
Yes, through Stamp 0, on evidence of roughly 50,000 euros of annual income per person, a capital reserve and private health insurance, renewed annually.
Five years of reckonable residence within the last nine, including one continuous final year. STEP residence counts toward it; Stamp 0 currently does not.
Yes, uniquely both: full EU free movement plus the right to live and work in the United Kingdom under the Common Travel Area.
Spouses and dependent children accompany STEP holders, while each Stamp 0 applicant must qualify on their own income, and descent claims run individually for every qualifying family member, children included.
Book an assessment and our team will assess your options.
Receive tailored advice and a clear migration strategy built entirely around you.
Let us manage your application from lodgement to decision, or choose to be guided.
Tell us about your family tree, your business and your income, and our specialists will rank your Irish routes in order of realism, with costs and timelines for each.