Ireland
New immigration rules for circus artistes
The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has issued guidance on changes to the immigration rules for circus artistes from outside Ireland, the EU/EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
- From 1 November 2025, circus artistes who are not Irish, EU, EEA, Swiss or UK citizens and who wish to work in Ireland will be required to hold employment permits if they do not otherwise have permission to work in Ireland.
- The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) handles applications for employment permits. DETE is now accepting applications for employment permits for circus artistes who will require them after 1 November 2025. Applications should be submitted no later than 12 weeks before the proposed employment start-date.
- An employment permit is required in addition to, not instead of, immigration permission. Once DETE has issued an employment permit, the person concerned must apply for a visa if they are travelling to Ireland as a citizen of a visa-required country.
- All employment permit holders, whether visa-required or not, must apply to Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) for residence permission once they are in the State.
Arrangements until 31 October 2025
- Circus artistes who received residence permission coming into the winter 2024 season will typically have been given permission valid for 11 months (or until the end of the contract, if sooner). For example, permissions granted in November 2024 will in most cases expire on or approaching 31 October 2025. Holders of these permissions may continue to work during the spring/summer 2025 season, up to the expiry date of permission, without an employment permit.
- Those who intend to seek residence permission for additional artistes for the spring/summer 2025 season will be issued a shorter permission, expiring on or before 31 October 2025 (or the end-date of the contract, if sooner), subject to ISD approval. Holders of this immigration permission will be allowed to work without an employment permit until the expiry date, as outlined above. The standard registration fee of €300 will apply.
- It is envisaged that all permissions granted under the existing arrangements will expire before or on the 31 October 2025 cut-off date.
Employing circus artistes from 1 November 2025
- From 1 November 2025, all circus artistes who are not citizens of Ireland, the EU/EEA, Switzerland, or the UK, and who do not have an immigration status that entitles them to work in the State, must have a valid employment permit to work in Ireland.
- Applications for employment permits can be submitted to DETE up to six months in advance and should be submitted no later than twelve weeks before the employment start-date. This means that applications in respect of circus artistes who will require employment permits for the winter 2025 season should be made during summer/autumn 2025, depending on the contract start-date. When considering how far in advance to make an employment permit application for a visa-required employee, please take into account the additional time required for a visa application to be processed (if the person concerned is visa-required).
- DETE will not issue an employment permit unless at the time of application at least 50% of the staff of the circus concerned are from Ireland, the EU/EEA, Switzerland and/or the UK (the “50:50 rule”), in accordance with Irish legislation and the EU principle of Union Preference.
United Kingdom
eVisas begin to replace physical stickers
From 15 July 2025, successful applicants for a work or study visa may not receive a physical visa sticker (vignette). Instead, they will need to create a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account to access their eVisa before travel to the UK. Applicants will be told what to do when they receive their application decision.
E-visas are being rolled out for the main applicants for:
- Students, including short term study for 11 months;
- Global Business Mobility routes (specifically, Senior or Specialist Worker, Graduate Trainee, UK Expansion Worker, Service Supplier, Secondment Worker);
- Global Talent;
- International Sportsperson;
- Skilled Worker (including Health and Care);
- Temporary Work routes (specifically, Charity Worker, Creative Worker, Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement, and Religious work routes);
- Youth Mobility Scheme.
Holders can link their travel document (such as passport) to their UKVI account to facilitate straightforward international travel. People who have created a UKVI account will be able to use the view and prove service to prove their status securely with third parties, such as employers or landlords (in England).
The following people can also now access their eVisa:
- Those issued with a Form for affixing a visa (FAV);
- Those granted an extension to their visa but who do not have a valid identity document, such as a passport or expired biometric residence permit (BRP).
Applicants applying as a dependent for any visa, or as a main applicant for other kinds of visa, will still receive a physical sticker.
Anyone with existing, in-date, physical visa stickers do not need to take any action.
