Ireland Relocation Checklist

Phase 1 · 18+ months out

The ancestry check comes first

Confirm where your parents and grandparents were born — an Irish-born parent means you're already a citizen; an Irish-born grandparent means the Foreign Births Register (€278, ~12 months) If a grandparent qualifies: order the Irish birth and marriage certificates now — three generations of documents take months to assemble No ancestry? Check the Stamp 0 income test honestly: €50,000/year per person (€100,000 for a couple) plus a lump sum roughly equal to the price of a home Take a scouting trip — you get 90 days visa-free, and Ireland isn't in Schengen, so these days don't touch your Schengen clock Build a budget from the Cost of Living data — Ireland is the EU's second most expensive country; this move is not a cost-cutting play Book a cross-border tax adviser before anything else moves — the remittance basis rewards people who structure accounts before becoming resident

Phase 2 · 6–18 months out

Run your route's paperwork

Descent route: apply to the Foreign Births Register online, then post certified documents covering three generations — all processing is centralised in Dublin (~12 months), so start before you plan the move date Descent route: registering before your children or grandchildren are born passes citizenship on — citizenship dates from registration, not birth Stamp 0 route: assemble the financial file — income evidence and accounts converted to euros in spreadsheet form, per the ISD application guidance Stamp 0 route: buy private health insurance with full cover — and note the Lifetime Community Rating loading: first-time buyers over 34 pay 2% extra per year of age, so insure at the earliest sensible moment Stamp 0 route: apply by post to the Stamp 0 Unit (ISD, Dublin) before travelling — processing runs about 4–6 months; approval arrives as a conditional letter of offer Start the housing search early — vacancy is ~3.3% nationally and under 1% in much of Dublin; read the housing reality check before committing to a county

Phase 3 · The final months

Plan the physical move

Pets: ISO microchip → rabies shot ≥21 days before travel → EU health certificate endorsed by USDA-APHIS or CFIA → for dogs, a tapeworm treatment 24–120 hours before arrival (Living guide) Americans: accept the driving-licence reality — US licences can't be exchanged, so plan for the theory test, learner permit, 6 lessons, and the Irish test. Canadians: check your province's exchange agreement Secure accommodation for arrival — under the March 2026 rent rules, new tenancies carry 6-year minimum-duration protections and increases are capped at 2%/year or inflation, whichever is lower Set up your money: keep clean-capital accounts segregated from income accounts before you land (the remittance-basis trap), and plan USD/CAD→EUR transfers at ~€1 = $1.14 Book the flight — Dublin has direct routes to a dozen-plus North American cities, plus US pre-clearance for the trips home

Phase 4 · Arrival & first 90 days

Become a resident, properly

Stamp 0: register with immigration and get your IRP card (€300) — and diarise the annual renewal: income and insurance are re-proven every year Citizens by descent: no registration needed — apply for your Irish passport and simply arrive Get your PPS number (Personal Public Service number) — the number every tax, health, and service form asks for Open an Irish bank account and set up utilities and broadband Healthcare setup: activate private cover from day one; register for the Drugs Payment Scheme (€80/month family cap on prescriptions) once ordinarily resident Americans: book the driver theory test in week one — the licence process takes months and a learner permit doesn't let you drive alone Mark the tax calendar: Irish tax residency starts at 183 days in a year (or 280 over two) — align the move date with your adviser's plan

The rules here moved recently — national rent controls (March 2026), Budget 2026 tax figures, and Dublin-only FBR processing are all new-ish. The newsletter below is how we tell you when this page changes.

Sources

Stamp 0 requirements and process: irishimmigration.ie — I want to retire to Ireland
Foreign Births Register: ireland.ie (DFA); citizensinformation.ie
Rent rules from 1 March 2026: RTB — rental law changes
Pets, driving licences, PPS number, Drugs Payment Scheme: gov.ie; NDLS; citizensinformation.ie; HSE
Tax residency and remittance basis: Revenue.ie

The whole move,in order.

The ancestry check comes first

Run your route's paperwork

Plan the physical move

Become a resident, properly

Sources

This checklist updates. So should you.

The whole move,
in order.