Stamp 1G or Stamp 2: Can You Start an Irish Business?

Start with your permission documents and proposed activity

ISD explains that a residence stamp or permission records both the period of lawful stay and the conditions attached to it. Identify the actual permission you hold, its basis, expiry date and any accompanying letter. A friend with the same-looking card or a different family route is not a substitute for reading your own documents.

Prepare a factual description of what you intend to do. Will you manage orders, negotiate contracts, deliver services, direct a company or only hold an investment? Where will you physically carry out each activity? Explain these facts to the adviser rather than asking only whether you can register a company.

If the published summary and your individual letter appear inconsistent, ask ISD or your solicitor to explain the position. Do not choose whichever wording seems more convenient. Keep the response with the documents you relied on, and revisit it if the intended activity or permission changes.

• ISD glossary: residence permission and its conditions
• ISD: general stamp conditions and additional permission-letter conditions

Graduate Stamp 1G is an employment route, not a startup licence

The Third Level Graduate Programme allows eligible graduates to seek graduate-level employment. Its published rules permit full-time employment but prohibit operating a business or being self-employed. Finishing a degree and moving from Stamp 2 to graduate Stamp 1G therefore does not, by itself, authorise a founder-run business.

Consider a fictional graduate who plans to build websites for customers and send invoices through a new LTD. Calling the receipts company income rather than freelance income does not answer the permission question. The graduate should describe the actual work, ownership and management role to a qualified adviser before accepting orders or signing a formation instruction.

Likewise, do not rely on delaying a salary. Ask specifically about unpaid management, development work and any proposed director role. This guide does not classify those activities for your case. The useful next step is a permission assessment, not a workaround based on how or when the business would pay you.

• ISD Third Level Graduate Programme, paragraph 11: employment and business restrictions

Spouse or partner Stamp 1G has its own basis and restrictions

Not every Stamp 1G holder is a graduate. ISD also publishes employment arrangements for eligible spouses and partners of specified employment-permit holders and researchers. Its conditions allow employment without a separate employment permit, while prohibiting establishing or operating a business and self-employment.

Check the particular family permission and current documents instead of borrowing a graduate's explanation or assuming unrestricted business rights. For example, a fictional partner may be entitled to take an ordinary job but still need separate advice before opening and managing a consultancy. Employment access and founder-business permission are different questions.

Older announcements can describe transitional arrangements for cards showing an earlier stamp. Do not treat an expired transition notice as current proof of your own position. Ask for an assessment based on the permission and documentation applicable now, especially if your sponsor's circumstances have changed.

• ISD: eligible spouse/partner Stamp 1G arrangements and business restrictions

Stamp 2 working hours do not create a business allowance

ISD's Stamp 2 summary permits casual employment up to 20 hours a week during term and 40 hours during the permitted holiday periods, but says holders must not engage in other business or trade. The employment-hours allowance is not a weekly allocation for running your own shop or freelance practice.

A fictional student who plans to spend ten hours a week managing online customer orders should not assume that staying below 20 hours resolves the issue. Selling through a website, collecting money through a platform or using an incorporated entity does not itself establish that the activity is permitted. Describe the actual model before launching it.

Keep Stamp 2 distinct from Stamp 2A, which has different restrictions. This guide is not a complete student-employment handbook or a determination of whether a particular placement, investment or activity is allowed. Verify the current category and conditions before relying on an employment entitlement.

• ISD: Stamp 2 casual employment, business restrictions and Stamp 2A distinction

Separate registration, ownership and operational work

CRO's incorporation process requires Form A1 and a constitution, with information about the company, officers, subscribers and shares. Those are company-registration requirements. ISD's separate guidance addresses what an individual may do while residing in Ireland. An incorporation certificate is not an immigration permission.

Do not assume that passive share ownership, a directorship and personally running a business all have the same analysis. This article does not give blanket clearance for any of them under Stamp 1G or Stamp 2. Have the exact role and conduct assessed before appointment, subscription or instructions to a provider.

A co-founder with broader rights is not a device for concealing your own activity. Nor should you put another person's name on documents while privately continuing the role you were advised not to undertake. Use accurate ownership and officer information, and obtain advice about a genuine structure rather than a nominal substitute.

• CRO: company-incorporation documents and particulars
• ISD: activities permitted by immigration category

An EEA-resident director or bond addresses another requirement

CRO describes an EEA-resident director requirement, with statutory alternatives including a prescribed bond or an applicable certificate. It also sets requirements for director and secretary numbers. These company-law checks do not determine an individual's immigration entitlement to undertake the intended work.

Do not buy a non-resident formation package or director bond expecting it to change your stamp. Likewise, being physically resident in Ireland is not proof that your current permission allows you to operate a company. Tell the provider that the immigration question is unresolved before discussing a filing date.

Once that question is resolved, the company's structure still needs its own review. Explain the genuine directors, secretary, registered office and activity so the formation instructions match the business you are actually entitled and intending to carry on.

• CRO: company officers, residence requirement and statutory alternatives

Ask about a suitable permission route, not an automatic conversion

ISD's guidance on changing permission sets out category-specific criteria. An application to change permission is not approval to undertake the proposed business activity. Keep any existing rights, renewal arrangements and requested new rights distinct, and obtain advice well before your permission expires.

Do not assume that every Stamp 1 allows every business, or that a future Stamp 4 is guaranteed. Ask which route, if any, fits your actual circumstances, what its conditions would permit and when those rights would take effect. A forecast eligibility date is not a present authorisation.

Give the adviser your intended launch date, current expiry date and any customer or investor commitments. Avoid promising that the business will operate by a fixed date before the required permission is in place. If circumstances change while an application is pending, seek updated advice rather than relying on the original plan.

• ISD: changing immigration permission and category-specific criteria

STEP is selective and separate from ordinary company formation

The Start-up Entrepreneur Programme is a distinct immigration route for eligible innovative entrepreneurs. The current ISD page lists available funding of EUR 50,000 and an innovative proposal among its requirements. Other eligibility conditions and nationality restrictions also apply; meeting a funding figure alone is not approval.

The published guidelines explain that the scheme targets high-potential innovative startups rather than ordinary retail, personal-services or catering businesses. A standard company-formation order does not submit or secure a STEP application. A promising local business idea may still be outside the scheme's intended scope.

Ask a suitably qualified adviser whether the current programme fits your project and circumstances. Use the official application material rather than a marketing claim about a startup visa, and do not interpret a company name, business plan or formation certificate as a residence decision.

• ISD: current STEP application and eligibility information
• ISD STEP guidelines: intended startup scope

A useful checklist before you order formation

Prepare one concise brief for the immigration adviser and a separate formation brief for the company provider. That makes the responsibility for each question clear. Do not send sensitive permission or identity documents through a public website comment or assume the formation team is assessing your immigration case.

If a company has already been formed, explain the true position before doing more work. Seek immigration advice about any activity already undertaken and company advice about existing obligations. Neither ignoring the company nor assuming that closing it cures a permission issue is a sound substitute for assessment.

• Identify the current permission, its basis, conditions and expiry date.
• Describe ownership, management, client work, location and payment arrangements accurately.
• Ask about incorporation, a director appointment and actual operational work separately.
• Obtain advice on the proposed activity before commitments or a launch.
• Keep any required approval and check when its rights take effect.
• Only then confirm the genuine company structure and filing instructions.
• Confirm package inclusions, exclusions and the total payable without treating the order as immigration approval.

What StartCompany.ie can help you arrange

After the permission question has been resolved, StartCompany.ie can help with the appropriate Irish company-formation package and its stated incorporation services. Compare the current inclusions for your genuine officer structure, identity requirements and registered-office needs rather than selecting a package as a way to obtain residence or work rights.

Formation support is not immigration advice or permission. A formation package does not include an immigration determination, an employment permit, a STEP approval, guaranteed banking or a tax-residence outcome. Contact us about formation scope, and use ISD or a qualified immigration solicitor for the permission assessment before ordering.