Atypical Working Scheme For Short-term Employment In Ireland

21 Sep 2013

A new short-term employment category called the ‘Atypical Working Scheme’ took effect in Ireland on 2nd September, 2013. This scheme was developed and implemented by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Justice and Equality and INIS (Irish Naturalization and Immigration Service).

This pilot project provides a streamlined process to deal with short-term employment that lasts between 14 to 90 days, where the nature of work is not overseen by the present administrative procedures under the EPA (Employment Permits Acts) or by the EPA.

The ‘Atypical Working Scheme’ applies to non-European Economic Area (non-EEA) personnel who are needed by a company to take part in short-term contract work in any of the following circumstances:

• Where a shortage of skilled personnel has been identified including secondment as an intra-company transfer;
• To provide a high skill or specialized personnel to an academic institution, business or industry
• To facilitate trial employment of an occupation on the HSOL (Highly Skilled Occupations List); and
• To facilitate paid internships for non-EEA students studying outside the State in a full-time course (not including medical internships).

Applications are submitted to the INIS, and a written approval notification is then issued by them. 2 weeks is the approximate anticipated processing time. Prior to approval of an application under the ‘Atypical Working Scheme’, foreigners who need a visa cannot apply for an entry visa and the time for processing a visa may take up to additional 8 weeks.

Apart from this, within a 12 month period, the ‘Atypical Working Scheme’ allows only one short-term employment application by a non-EEA personnel. An Irish based host company can sponsor an Atypical Working Scheme visa only if the company is registered with the CRO (Company Registrations Office). Also, non-EEA personnel employed by an EU company must apply under the Van der Elst process and cannot apply for an Atypical Working Scheme visa.

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