Eligibility Quiz
Requirements
You qualify for permission to remain only if you meet all of the following:
You have applied for international protection in Ireland and completed the full process, including submitting a questionnaire and attending a personal interview with the IPO.
Your application for both refugee status and subsidiary protection has been refused by the IPO. Permission to remain is considered only after the IPO has recommended that you should not be granted either form of international protection.
The Minister exercises discretion in your favour based on your individual circumstances. The Minister must consider:
- Your family and personal circumstances
- Your right to respect for private and family life
- Your connection to Ireland (if any)
- Humanitarian considerations
- Your character and conduct, including any criminal convictions
- National security and public order concerns
- Whether returning you to another country could expose you to torture, degrading treatment, or the death penalty
- Any other considerations of the common good
There is no nationality restriction — permission to remain is available to nationals of any country.
Key Eligibility Notes
No separate application is required. You do not fill out a distinct form for permission to remain. Instead, information about your family in Ireland, health conditions, personal circumstances, and humanitarian factors becomes important if your international protection application is refused. The Minister automatically considers permission to remain after the IPO makes a negative recommendation.
There is no right of appeal against refusal. If the Minister refuses permission to remain, you cannot appeal to a tribunal. Your only recourse is judicial review on the grounds that the decision-making process was flawed — not on the merits of the decision itself.
Permission to remain is entirely discretionary. Unlike refugee status or subsidiary protection, which are determined by objective legal criteria, the Minister has broad discretion and is not bound by any formula or checklist.
Conditions & Warnings
Permission to remain is entirely discretionary — there is no right of appeal against a refusal, only judicial review on procedural grounds.
Persons granted permission to remain cannot apply for family reunification under the International Protection Act, unlike refugees or those with subsidiary protection.
As of 8 December 2025, five years of reckonable residence is now required before applying for Irish citizenship (previously three years), and applicants must not have received certain social protection payments in the two years before applying.
The International Protection Bill 2026 (expected to take effect by 12 June 2026) will significantly reform the asylum system, including faster processing timelines and stricter admissibility checks — specific impacts on permission to remain are still being finalized.
Qualifications
Fees
No government fees for application or grant of permission to remain. Registration fee waived for those granted permission to remain under Section 49.