🇮🇪 Ireland

Enrolling a child in an Irish primary school is one universal process for every family. It applies the same way whatever the family's nationality or immigration status. There is no separate enrolment track for non-EU children and a place is not nationality-gated. You read the school's published admissions policy, apply in writing within its stated window, and the school must reply within 21 days. Applying and enrolling are free.

Child Benefit is a monthly payment for a parent or guardian raising a child in Ireland, and it is not means-tested. For a newcomer the real gate is rarely nationality — it is the Habitual Residence Condition, which applies to everyone regardless of nationality and is assessed on five factors rather than a points score. Applying is free.

Opening a bank account in Ireland is a chicken-and-egg problem for newcomers. The three traditional *pillar banks* — AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB — require photo ID plus proof of an Irish address before opening a current account. The common workaround is to open an e-money account (N26 or Revolut) first using only a passport and a video selfie, then open a pillar-bank account once you have an Irish address.

When you start your first PAYE job in Ireland, Revenue collects Income Tax, USC and PRSI directly from your wages. If Revenue does not know about the job in time, your employer cannot tax you correctly and you go onto emergency tax until you fix it. The fix is free: register for myAccount, add the job under PAYE Services, and give your employer your PPS number so they receive a Revenue Payroll Notification.

A medical card and a GP visit card are the two means-tested entitlements the Health Service Executive (HSE) uses for public healthcare. They reduce or remove what you pay for healthcare in Ireland. A medical card gives full cover including a family doctor, prescriptions and public hospital care; a GP visit card covers visits to a family doctor only. Both are free to apply for and free to hold. Eligibility turns on being resident here and, for most ages, a household income assessment.

A PPS number is the single reference the Irish State uses to recognise you across public services, tax, and social welfare. You must be living in Ireland to apply: start online through MyWelfare, attend an in-person identity appointment at a PPS Number Allocation Centre or Intreo Centre, and the number is then posted to you. Allocation is free.

How an adult long-term resident becomes an Irish citizen through the standard naturalisation route on *Form 8*, based on five years' *reckonable residence*. Covers eligibility, identity and residence scoring, fees, and the citizenship ceremony. There is no language test.

Whether you can swap a foreign licence for an Irish one depends entirely on where it was issued. Three outcomes apply: an EU/EEA licence exchanges directly; a licence from a recognised state exchanges directly under a bilateral agreement; and every other licence (including the United States and India) cannot be exchanged, so the holder must sit the full Irish driving test from the start. The third outcome is the most common for newcomers from outside Europe.