Ireland Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP)

The Ireland Start-up Entrepreneur Programme or STEP, isn't a tourist visa. It’s a residence permission for non-EEA founders who want to live in Ireland while building an innovative, high-potential start-up full time.

STEP was designed for businesses that can grow beyond a local market. The idea is pretty specific, too, your start-up should be innovative, aimed at international sales and capable of creating jobs in Ireland. This is a business immigration route, not a casual remote-work option or a way to spend a few months in Dublin with a laptop.

To qualify, you generally need a start-up proposal in the innovation economy and access to €75,000. Official guidance also points to good character checks, including police clearance and the business has to meet the programme’s high-potential start-up criteria. That usually means an experienced team, Irish headquarters and control in Ireland and a plan that can scale.

• Who it’s for: Non-EEA entrepreneurs starting a qualifying high-potential start-up in Ireland.
• Main funding figure: €75,000.
• What it allows: Residence in Ireland to establish and run the business full time.

The application is handled by Immigration Service Delivery. You submit the STEP form and supporting documents online, then pay a €350 non-refundable fee by electronic funds transfer. Applications are reviewed by an independent committee on a quarterly basis, so there’s a wait built into the process even if your paperwork is clean.

If you’re approved, you get permission to reside in Ireland for the purpose of developing your start-up. The initial permission is commonly granted for two years and renewal is possible if you keep meeting the programme conditions. If you don’t, the permission can be withdrawn.

STEP is very different from a short-stay C visa. A tourist visa lets you visit, maybe attend short meetings, but it doesn’t give you the right to set up and run a business in Ireland. STEP does. It’s the route people use when they’re serious about moving, not just visiting.

After 60 months of legal residence on qualifying permissions, some applicants may be able to move toward long-term residency. The official rules are tied to your residence history and the stamps you hold, so STEP should be seen as a business residence route first, not a fast track to permanent status.

The Start-up Entrepreneur Programme or STEP, is for non-EEA founders with a high-potential start-up idea. It’s not a route for freelancers, local shops or casual side projects. Ireland wants businesses built for the innovation economy, with export potential and real job creation, not just a clever way to work around the visa system.

To qualify, you need a proposal for a high-potential start-up and access to at least €50,000 in funding. The business also has to be new or innovative, involved in manufacturing or internationally traded services, headquartered and controlled in Ireland and less than five years old when it’s registered. If the idea is retail, personal services, catering or another domestic service, STEP is the wrong lane.

The job and sales targets are serious. The business should be capable of creating 10 jobs in Ireland and generating €1 million in sales within 3 years. An experienced management team matters too, so this isn’t meant for someone pitching a half-formed concept and hoping the paperwork does the rest.

• Nationality: Open to non-EEA nationals. EEA citizens don’t need this route.
• Funding: At least €50,000 for the first principal applicant. If more than one principal is applying, the first shows €50,000 and each additional principal shows €30,000.
• Business type: Innovative, export-oriented and clearly a high-potential start-up.
• Character: You’ll need to show good character. Adult family members age 16 and older must provide character affidavits.

Funding can come from your own money, a business loan, angel or venture capital funding or an Irish state agency grant. You also have to prove where the money came from and that it can be transferred to Ireland and converted to euro. The official guidance is picky here and a vague bank letter won’t do.

• Bank proof: If the money is in an Irish-regulated institution, a letter confirming the available amount can work.
• Overseas funds: Three full consecutive months of original bank statements or a bank letter confirming the balance over that period.
• Third-party funding: Letters confirming the amount committed and that you can use it for the proposed business.
• Transferability: A separate letter confirming the funds can be moved to Ireland and converted to euro.

The application fee is €350 for the principal applicant and all nominated family members. It’s nonrefundable. The official portal doesn’t give a fixed processing time, because applications are reviewed quarterly and decisions are made case by case.

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STEP is built for people with a real business, not a side hustle. The state wants to see that you’ve got at least €50,000 in funding for the start-up and if there’s more than one principal founder, the first founder needs €50,000 while each additional principal needs €30,000.

You also have to show where the money came from and that it can actually be moved to Ireland and converted into euros. That can mean your own savings, a business loan, angel or venture capital money or a grant from an Irish State agency.

• Application form: The completed STEP form.
• Business plan: A detailed plan for the innovative start-up, using the official sample template. If you’re relocating an existing business, include the most recent audited accounts.
• Funding evidence: Proof of the required funding, plus a separate bank letter showing the funds can be transferred to Ireland and converted into euros.
• Character documents: Police certificates from each country where you’ve lived for more than 6 months in the last 10 years.
• Insurance: Private medical insurance for the residence period.

The funding paperwork is picky. If the money is in a foreign bank, the official documents need to show the required amount for three full consecutive months and the most recent statement can’t be more than one calendar month old. If the money comes from an investor, lender or grant body, you need an original letter from each source confirming the amount committed and that it can be used for the proposed business.

There’s also a separate character step after approval. Before residence permission is issued, you and any family member aged 16 or over must sign an affidavit from an Irish legal practitioner confirming good character and no criminal convictions. If any statement is false, the permission can be invalidated.

The application fee is €350, non-refundable and it covers the principal applicant plus all nominated family members. Applications are evaluated quarterly, but the official guidance doesn’t give a fixed decision timeline. STEP permission is usually granted for 2 years, with renewal possible and a route to long-term residence after 5 years.

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The Start-up Entrepreneur Programme is cheaper than many people expect, but it isn’t free. The official application fee is €350, paid by electronic funds transfer to the Department of Justice bank account. The Irish government doesn’t publish a fixed USD amount, so any dollar figure you see is just a moving estimate.

That €350 covers the principal applicant and all nominated family members. There are no separate STEP-specific government processing fees, no extra charge for the approval review and no official biometrics fee built into the programme. The catch is simple, though annoying: the fee is non-refundable and the application won’t be touched until the full amount has cleared.

• STEP application fee: €350
• Who it covers: The principal applicant and all nominated family members
• Refund policy: Non-refundable, even if the application is refused
• Payment method: Electronic funds transfer only

Don’t short-pay it. The Department expects the full €350 to land in its account and the applicant is responsible for any transfer charges or currency exchange fees. If your bank skims off part of the payment, that can delay the file.

The big financial hurdle isn’t the application fee, it’s the funding requirement behind the business plan. STEP requires you to show access to €50,000 for the proposed start-up. If there’s more than one principal founder, the first founder needs €50,000 and each additional principal needs €30,000. That money isn’t a government fee, but you do need to prove it and, after approval, place it with a financial institution regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

There are also other costs that aren’t fixed by the STEP rules. You may need private medical insurance, certified translations, legal or advisory help and police certificates from countries where you’ve lived for more than six months in the last 10 years. If you’re visa-required, you may also face a separate entry visa fee and, once in Ireland, a residence registration fee under the general immigration rules. The official STEP materials don’t set those amounts.

Ireland’s Start-up Entrepreneur Programme, usually called STEP, is still open and handled by the Irish Immigration Service. The application is a bit old-school, though, because you don’t submit it through a flashy portal. You email the official STEP form and supporting documents to the Department of Justice.

The core requirement is simple enough on paper. You need to show €50,000 in funding for an innovative start-up, along with details showing where that money came from. There isn’t a separate income threshold in the official STEP materials, but you do need to show you can support yourself and any family members without public funds.

• Application fee: €350, non-refundable
• Funding requirement: €50,000
• Submission method: Email the completed STEP form, business proposal and supporting documents
• Payment method: Electronic funds transfer to the Department of Justice bank account

Prepare the business side carefully. The government wants a proposal and business plan that explain the product or service, why it’s innovative, who it serves and how it will be based and controlled in Ireland. The review process is done in quarterly batches, so don’t expect a quick turnaround and the official guidance doesn’t give a fixed processing time.

The checklist in the STEP form asks for more than just a business idea. You’ll usually need:

• Identity documents: Certified passport copies for the main applicant and for a spouse, partner or children if they’re included
• Funds evidence: Bank statements or letters from regulated financial institutions, plus a written explanation of the source of funds
• Business documents: A detailed business plan
• Character documents: Police reports for the applicant and, in some cases, adult dependants
• Other materials: A CV of up to 2 pages and a personal narrative of up to 500 words

Once everything is ready, fill in the form, sign it, pay the €350 fee and email the package to the official STEP address. If the application is approved, STEP can be a route into Irish residence for founders, but the permission is tied to running the business you proposed, not to casual remote work or freelance side gigs.

STEP isn’t a quick in, quick out route. Successful applicants usually get an initial 2-year residence permission under Stamp 4, so you can live and work in Ireland and run the business without a separate employment permit.

After those first 2 years, Irish authorities review the case to check that you’re still moving the approved business forward. If that review goes well, you can get a further 3 years. That brings the first STEP period to 5 years total and you’re still expected to meet the programme’s conditions throughout.

• Years 0 to 2: Initial STEP residence permission under Stamp 4.
• Years 2 to 5: One further 3-year permission, subject to review and continued business progress.
• After 5 years: You can apply for residence in 5-year tranches if you still qualify.

There isn’t a stated hard cap on how many times that 5-year renewal can be granted. The official guidance points to ongoing renewals, subject to compliance and ministerial discretion, so if the business fails or you no longer meet the rules, you may need to switch to another immigration route.

STEP can also feed into longer-term status. After 5 years of residence under the programme, you become eligible to apply for long-term residence in Ireland, but that isn’t automatic. You still have to apply and meet the criteria in force when you do.

Citizenship is also possible later on, but STEP doesn’t give you a special fast track. Time spent physically living in Ireland under STEP can count toward the reckonable residence needed for naturalisation, subject to the usual Irish citizenship rules.

The fee picture is a little less clear. The official STEP application fee is €350, but the public guidance doesn’t spell out a separate renewal fee for each extension. If you want the exact cost at renewal, the published material doesn’t give a fixed answer.

Taxes and considerations

STEP gives you permission to live and run a business in Ireland. It doesn't give you a special tax break, a flat tax or a reduced-rate regime. You’re taxed under the normal Irish rules for residents, non-residents, domicile and source of income.

For most founders, the big trigger is tax residence, not the visa stamp. Revenue says you’re tax-resident if you’re in Ireland for 183 days or more in one tax year or 280 days across the current and previous tax years combined, with at least 30 days in each year. A day counts if you’re in the country for any part of it.

If you’re resident and domiciled in Ireland, your worldwide income is generally taxable here. If you’re resident but non-domiciled, Ireland uses a remittance basis for certain foreign income, which means foreign investment income and other offshore income may stay outside Irish tax until it’s brought into Ireland. Irish-source income is still taxable and foreign income tied to Irish duties can also be taxable even if it’s paid abroad.

• Irish-source profits: Taxable under the normal Irish rules.
• Foreign income for non-dom residents: May be taxed only when remitted into Ireland, subject to the usual source and anti-avoidance rules.
• Non-resident treatment: Usually limited to Irish-source income and work carried out in Ireland.
• Double-tax relief: Ireland has tax treaties with more than 70 countries, so you may be able to claim credit or exemption relief instead of paying twice.

STEP holders also get the same messy real-world issues as everyone else, ordinary residence, domicile and reporting. You can become ordinarily resident after three consecutive years of Irish tax residence and that changes how some foreign income is treated. None of that's decided by Immigration Service Delivery, it’s Revenue’s call.

The practical move is simple, even if the rules aren’t. Track your days carefully, keep clean records of where your income comes from and talk to a cross-border tax adviser before you cross the 183-day line or start moving money into Ireland.