Ireland issued 31,044 employment permits in 2025, according to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Health and social work accounted for 7,948 of them, with ICT and hospitality next at 3,630 and 3,499. Brazil and China were the third and fourth largest source countries, with 3,381 and 1,922 permits, and for candidates like these almost every document in the file is in a language other than English.
That is where many relocations slow down. The offer is signed and the permit is moving, and then a regulator, a visa officer or the employer's own compliance team asks for a translation nobody had planned for. For HR teams, and for UK agencies placing candidates with Irish clients, a handful of rules explain most of the delays.
Ireland has no sworn translators
In Spain, Poland and much of Europe, an official translation means a translation by a sworn translator appointed by the state. Ireland has no such system and no state register of translators. Irish bodies ask for a certified translation instead.
Immigration Service Delivery (ISD), which handles visas and residence permissions, defines a certified document as one that "has been signed and dated by a recognised person or organisation as a true copy or translation of the original". Its join-family pages list what every translation must contain: confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original, the date, the translator's full name and signature, and the translator's contact details.
Two practical points follow. The translation has to be complete, so stamps, seals, handwritten notes and the back of the document all count. And it has to come from a professional: ISD says a translator or translation company "with an established professional reputation" may qualify to make certified translations. A translation by the candidate, or by a bilingual colleague, will not meet that standard.
Where translations come up in a hire
Qualifications and experience. A permit is granted for a specific role, and the candidate needs the qualifications and experience that role calls for. A degree certificate in Portuguese or a reference letter in Chinese is of little use to an Irish employer or regulator until it has been translated. Where a role depends on a specific qualification, translate the transcript as well as the certificate.
Professional registration. Nurses, doctors and health and social care professionals must register with their Irish regulator, and each regulator words its translation rule differently. NMBI says it "will need a certified English translation of any document which is not written in English", carried out by a qualified translator and signed and stamped by them. CORU asks for translations "officially stamped by a registered translator", with the translator's name, address and contact information so it can verify the work. The Medical Council wants translations issued and stamped by an official translator. The translation rules of NMBI, CORU and the Medical Council are worth checking before a candidate applies, because registration often takes months and a translation that misses the regulator's wording only adds to that.
These rules apply whatever the candidate's nationality. An EEA national needs no employment permit, but a Spanish nurse or a Polish physiotherapist faces exactly the same translation requirements when registering.
Family members. When a spouse and children follow, the join-family application brings in marriage and birth certificates, and ISD's join-family rules add two steps that catch people out. Civil documents issued outside the EEA or Switzerland must be attested or apostilled by the foreign ministry of the country that issued them. And translations done outside the EEA or Switzerland must themselves be attested or apostilled in the country where the translation was made, while translations done inside the EEA or Switzerland need no attestation. ISD also asks for original documents, not copies.
Five habits that keep translations off the critical path
-
Collect documents at offer stage. Ask for scans of every document not in English: degree, transcript, reference letters, registration certificates, and the family's civil certificates if they will follow.
-
Translate whole documents. ISD asks for a full translation and NMBI for an exact one. A summary or a partial translation meets neither rule.
-
Fix name spellings early. Names transliterated from Cyrillic, Arabic or Chinese script should match the passport on every translation. Each mismatch is a question an officer has to ask.
-
Use one translator for the whole file. Names, dates and job titles then read the same way across the degree, the transcript and the reference letters.
-
Keep copies and translations apart. A solicitor or commissioner for oaths certifies a copy, and a translator certifies a translation. CORU and NMBI ask for certified copies as well as translations, so check which the body wants before booking either.
Plan for it like any other pre-employment check
Translation rarely gets its own line in a relocation plan, yet it sits under the permit, the professional registration and the family's visa. Treat it like references or vetting: collect the documents early, brief the translator once, and use a provider that knows what a certified translation in Ireland has to contain. A complete, consistent file at the start costs far less than a queried application three months in.
Ireland issued 31,044 employment permits in 2025, according to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Health and social work accounted for 7,948 of them, with ICT and hospitality next at 3,630 and 3,499. Brazil and China were the third and fourth largest source countries, with 3,381 and 1,922 permits, and for candidates like these almost every document in the file is in a language other than English.
That is where many relocations slow down. The offer is signed and the permit is moving, and then a regulator, a visa officer or the employer's own compliance team asks for a translation nobody had planned for. For HR teams, and for UK agencies placing candidates with Irish clients, a handful of rules explain most of the delays.
Ireland has no sworn translators
In Spain, Poland and much of Europe, an official translation means a translation by a sworn translator appointed by the state. Ireland has no such system and no state register of translators. Irish bodies ask for a certified translation instead.
Immigration Service Delivery (ISD), which handles visas and residence permissions, defines a certified document as one that "has been signed and dated by a recognised person or organisation as a true copy or translation of the original". Its join-family pages list what every translation must contain: confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original, the date, the translator's full name and signature, and the translator's contact details.
Two practical points follow. The translation has to be complete, so stamps, seals, handwritten notes and the back of the document all count. And it has to come from a professional: ISD says a translator or translation company "with an established professional reputation" may qualify to make certified translations. A translation by the candidate, or by a bilingual colleague, will not meet that standard.
Where translations come up in a hire
Qualifications and experience. A permit is granted for a specific role, and the candidate needs the qualifications and experience that role calls for. A degree certificate in Portuguese or a reference letter in Chinese is of little use to an Irish employer or regulator until it has been translated. Where a role depends on a specific qualification, translate the transcript as well as the certificate.
Professional registration. Nurses, doctors and health and social care professionals must register with their Irish regulator, and each regulator words its translation rule differently. NMBI says it "will need a certified English translation of any document which is not written in English", carried out by a qualified translator and signed and stamped by them. CORU asks for translations "officially stamped by a registered translator", with the translator's name, address and contact information so it can verify the work. The Medical Council wants translations issued and stamped by an official translator. The translation rules of NMBI, CORU and the Medical Council are worth checking before a candidate applies, because registration often takes months and a translation that misses the regulator's wording only adds to that.
These rules apply whatever the candidate's nationality. An EEA national needs no employment permit, but a Spanish nurse or a Polish physiotherapist faces exactly the same translation requirements when registering.
Family members. When a spouse and children follow, the join-family application brings in marriage and birth certificates, and ISD's join-family rules add two steps that catch people out. Civil documents issued outside the EEA or Switzerland must be attested or apostilled by the foreign ministry of the country that issued them. And translations done outside the EEA or Switzerland must themselves be attested or apostilled in the country where the translation was made, while translations done inside the EEA or Switzerland need no attestation. ISD also asks for original documents, not copies.
Five habits that keep translations off the critical path
-
Collect documents at offer stage. Ask for scans of every document not in English: degree, transcript, reference letters, registration certificates, and the family's civil certificates if they will follow.
-
Translate whole documents. ISD asks for a full translation and NMBI for an exact one. A summary or a partial translation meets neither rule.
-
Fix name spellings early. Names transliterated from Cyrillic, Arabic or Chinese script should match the passport on every translation. Each mismatch is a question an officer has to ask.
-
Use one translator for the whole file. Names, dates and job titles then read the same way across the degree, the transcript and the reference letters.
-
Keep copies and translations apart. A solicitor or commissioner for oaths certifies a copy, and a translator certifies a translation. CORU and NMBI ask for certified copies as well as translations, so check which the body wants before booking either.
Plan for it like any other pre-employment check
Translation rarely gets its own line in a relocation plan, yet it sits under the permit, the professional registration and the family's visa. Treat it like references or vetting: collect the documents early, brief the translator once, and use a provider that knows what a certified translation in Ireland has to contain. A complete, consistent file at the start costs far less than a queried application three months in.
