You need a job offer from an Employer registered and trading in Ireland to apply for a Green Card.

Either the employee or the employer can apply for a Green Card Permit. It is only possible to obtain a Green Card for certain occupations or salary levels.

Where the annual salary (excluding bonuses) on offer is €60,000 or more, the Green Card Permit is available for all occupations, other than those which are "contrary to the public interest".

Also, Green Card Permits are available for jobs in the annual salary range €30,000 - €59,999 (excluding bonuses) - but only for a restricted number of strategically important occupations. If your occupation is on the following list of occupations you can still apply for a work permit.

Economic Sector	Occupation	Job Titles
Information Technology	ICT Professional	Computer Systems Managers, Computer Analysts, Computer Programmers and Computer Testers
Healthcare	Health Professionals	Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists/Pharmacologists and related occupations, Registered Nurses, Registered Midwives, Specialist Nurses and Dental Practitioners
Health associate professionals		Medical Radiographers, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, Audiologists, Dieticians, Social Workers, Medical Scientists, Orthoptists, Medical Physicists, ECG Technicians, Speech and Language Therapists, Neuropsychological Measurement Technicians, Biochemists, Vascular Technicians, Respiratory Technicians, Cardiac Catheterisation Technicians and GI Function Technicians
Industry	Professional Engineers and Technologists	Civil, Mining, Electrical, Software, Chemical, Design and Development, Planning and Quality Control, Network, Validation, Product Development, Process and Equality
Industry	Construction Professionals	Architects, Quantity and Other Surveyors and Building Managers
Education/Healthcare/Industry	Researchers and Natural Scientists	Researchers, Chemists, Natural Scientists, Biological Scientists, Physicists and Material Scientists
Financial	Business and Financial Professionals and associate professionals	Chartered and Certified Accountants, Actuaries, Economists, Statisticians, Management Consultants, Business Analysts, Underwriters, Claims Assessors and Analysts, Risk Professionals, Security Specialists, Fund and Investment Management Specialists, Common Law Jurisdiction Lawyers with experience of the financial services sector, Investment Funds Professionals, Fund Accountants, Fund Valuations Professionals, Fund Administrators, Custody Specialists, Transfer Agents, Hedge Fund Specialists, Compliance Specialists, Risk Specialists, Tax Experts and Legal Experts
Industry / Services	Specialist managers	Marketing and other Specialist Managers.

Green Cards will not normally be issued for jobs paying under 30000 Euro a year.

The EU nationals do not need a Green Card to come to work in Ireland. Nationals from the countries of the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland do not need employment permits to work in Ireland too. However, nationals of Bulgaria and Romania will need Green Card unless they have been working in Ireland on a work permit for a continuous period of 12 months or more prior to 31 December 2006.