Ireland's Third Level Graduate Programme (Stamp 1G) for Pakistani Graduates (2026)

What is the Third Level Graduate Programme?

The Third Level Graduate Programme is the official route that lets a non-EEA graduate remain in Ireland after finishing a degree, on an immigration permission called Stamp 1G, to seek graduate level work. The programme allows legally resident Irish educated non-EEA graduates who hold a Level 8 or Level 9 award from a recognised Irish awarding body to remain in Ireland after their studies. In plain terms, it is Ireland’s post-study stay-back, and the Stamp 1G is the endorsement that goes on your residence card.

It exists for a reason worth understanding. Ireland wants graduates it educated to have a fair chance to find skilled work and move onto an employment permit, rather than leaving the day their course ends. So the programme gives you time, and full access to the labour market during that time, but it does not give you a job or a permit. You still have to find the role. If you are weighing Ireland against other destinations first, our comparison of Ireland or the UK for Pakistani students sets out the wider trade-offs.

Who qualifies for Stamp 1G?

The conditions are specific, and missing one is how graduates get refused. To qualify you must tick every box below.

• You hold a current Stamp 2 student permission and an up-to-date residence card.
• Your qualification is at Level 8 or higher from a recognised Irish awarding body.
• You were notified in writing that you achieved the award on or after 1 January 2017.
• You apply within six months of being notified that you achieved your award.
• Time already spent as a non-EEA student has not exceeded the seven-year limit.
• Good character and compliance with Irish law are expected throughout.

Two of those trip Pakistani graduates up more than the rest. The clock is the results notification, not the graduation ceremony, and the six-month window is firm. And the award has to be from a recognised Irish body, which covers the Irish universities, the Royal College of Surgeons, the institutes of technology and QQI. A degree from an overseas branch does not count. If your current student registration is the piece you are unsure about, our guide on Irish Residence Permit registration covers the Stamp 2 you must be holding when you apply.

How long do you get, 12 or 24 months?

It depends entirely on the level of your award on the National Framework of Qualifications. This is the single most important number in the whole scheme.

A Level 8 honours bachelor degree earns a twelve-month permission, while a Level 9 or above award earns up to twenty-four months. The twenty-four months is not granted in one block. The Immigration Service Delivery policy is that Level 9 graduates are granted permission for twelve months initially, renewed for a further period of twelve months. You get an initial twelve months, then a renewal for a further twelve, and the renewal is given where you show the authorities you have taken real steps to find graduate work, such as attending interviews or signing up with graduate recruiters.

There is an overall ceiling on top of the permission length. Time on Stamp 2 as a student and on Stamp 1G together cannot exceed seven years for a Level 8 graduate or eight years for a Level 9 or above graduate. So the stay-back does not extend your total time in Ireland without limit, it fits inside the seven or eight year cap on your combined student and graduate permission.

What does it cost?

As of 28 September 2026, the Immigration Service Delivery page for the programme states you must pay a fee of EUR 300 per person to register for the Stamp 1G. That is the registration fee for your Irish Residence Permit under the scheme, and you pay it again on the renewal if you are on the twenty-four month track. On top of the fee itself you carry the ordinary costs of staying in Ireland while you job hunt, so plan for rent, living costs and medical insurance across the whole permission.

• EUR 300 registration fee, per person, for the Stamp 1G.
• EUR 300 again at renewal for Level 9 and above graduates on the second twelve months.
• Private medical insurance for the period, which is a condition of the permission.
• Living costs in Ireland while you search, which in Dublin are not small.

Budget the fee in rupees with a buffer for the exchange rate, and treat the living costs as the real expense. A graduate who lines up interviews before the degree ends spends far less time funding an unpaid search. For how the earlier study costs stack up, see our guide on studying in Ireland from Pakistan.

What can you do on Stamp 1G?

The point of the permission is work access, and here it is generous. Stamp 1G lets you work full time without a separate employment permit while you look for graduate level employment. That is the difference from your student Stamp 2, which capped you at part-time hours during term.

The purpose, though, is graduate employment that leads somewhere. Citizens Information states the scheme allows graduates to find employment and apply for a General Employment Permit or a Critical Skills Employment Permit. So the scheme is a runway to a skilled role and a work permit, not an open-ended permission to do any job forever. You can take interim work to support yourself while you search, but the target is a graduate position that qualifies for one of those permits before your Stamp 1G runs out. If part-time rules during your studies are still relevant to you, our guide on working part time while studying in Ireland covers the Stamp 2 side.

How do you apply, step by step?

1. Get written confirmation from your awarding body that you have achieved your award. Note that date.
2. Confirm your Stamp 2 permission and residence card are current.
3. Register your graduate permission through the Immigration Service Delivery process before your six months are up.
4. Upload the required documents, including proof of your award and medical insurance.
5. Pay the EUR 300 registration fee.
6. Receive your Stamp 1G endorsement on a new Irish Residence Permit card.

Where you register depends on where you live in Ireland, and the process runs through the ISD online system rather than a paper form. Processing times move through the year, so start as soon as you have your results letter rather than waiting for the parchment. Keep digital copies of everything you upload, and do not let your current Stamp 2 expire in the gap between finishing exams and registering, because the scheme needs you to hold a valid student permission at the point you apply. If your card is close to expiry, that timing becomes the thing to manage first. For the mechanics of the residence card itself, our guide on IRP registration for Pakistani students walks through the same portal.

What documents do you need?

The programme keeps the list short, but each item has to be right.

• A copy of the award granted to you, either a parchment or, where the ceremony has not happened yet, an official letter from the awarding body confirming you achieved the award.
• Your passport.
• Medical insurance covering the permission period.
• The EUR 300 registration fee.

The award evidence is the one to prepare early. Many graduates apply before the graduation ceremony, so they use the official completion letter rather than the parchment, and that letter has to come from the awarding body itself. If you sat your final exams and are waiting on results, the six-month clock only starts when you are notified you passed, which gives you a clear anchor for planning.

What happens after Stamp 1G?

Stamp 1G is a bridge, not a destination. The plan is to convert it into an employment permission before it ends. The two routes most Pakistani graduates aim for are the General Employment Permit and the Critical Skills Employment Permit, and the job you find decides which one fits.

A Critical Skills Employment Permit is the stronger of the two, aimed at roles on the critical skills list and at higher salaries, and it opens a faster path toward long-term residence. A General Employment Permit covers a wider range of jobs. Either way, the move happens while you hold Stamp 1G, so the search is not casual. You are working toward a specific offer that qualifies before the permission expires, which is why the smart graduates start applying for roles months before their Stamp 1G is even issued. Graduates who re-enter the scheme after a higher award should note the hard limit here.

The Immigration Service Delivery conditions state a graduate will not be permitted to access the programme on more than two separate occasions. So a graduate who used the scheme after a Level 8 degree and later finishes a Level 9 can re-enter for a further period, but nobody accesses the programme more than twice.

Can your family stay with you?

This is where Pakistani graduates often have the wrong expectation, so it is worth being plain. A student in Ireland generally has no automatic right to bring family on the basis of the student permission, and the graduate stay-back does not create one either. Stamp 1G is a permission for you, the graduate, to remain and search for work. It is not a family route.

That does not mean a family member can never join you. A spouse or partner can apply to come to Ireland in their own right, on their own basis, rather than as a dependant of a student or graduate. The two things are separate. So the honest planning position is this: build your case on your own permission first, and treat any family application as a distinct process with its own requirements, not something that rides along with your Stamp 1G.

Once you convert to an employment permit, the picture changes again. A Critical Skills Employment Permit in particular carries stronger family reunification options than a student or graduate permission, which is one more reason the goal on Stamp 1G is to reach a qualifying job. Plan the sequence in that order: secure your own status, land the graduate role, move onto the permit, then look at family. Trying to do it in the reverse order is how people get stuck.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Missing the six-month window. The clock starts at your results notification, not graduation. Diarise the date the moment you pass.
• Letting your Stamp 2 lapse. You must hold a current student permission and card when you apply, so do not let it expire while you wait.
• Assuming 24 months for a bachelor. A Level 8 honours degree gives twelve months, not twenty-four. Only Level 9 and above reach twenty-four.
• Treating Stamp 1G as the finish line. It is a search window. Line up graduate roles and target an employment permit before it ends.
• Weak award evidence. Use the official completion letter if the parchment is not ready, and make sure it is from the awarding body.

A worked example with dates

Fatima from Lahore finishes a one-year masters, a Level 9 award, at an Irish university.

• Early September. Her university emails to confirm she has passed and been awarded the degree. She notes the date, because her six-month window starts now.
• Mid September. She checks her Stamp 2 card is still valid and gathers her passport, completion letter and medical insurance.
• Late September. She registers her graduate permission through the ISD portal and pays the EUR 300 fee.
• October. Her new residence card arrives with Stamp 1G, valid for twelve months, and she starts applying for graduate roles full time.
• The following year. With interview evidence, she renews for a second twelve months, reaching the full twenty-four, while finalising a job that qualifies for a Critical Skills Employment Permit.

She did the two things that matter. She anchored everything to her results date, not the ceremony, and she treated the permission as a job search with a deadline. If you are still at the visa stage, our Ireland student visa guide and the bank statement requirement for an Ireland student visa are the right places to begin.

Frequently asked questions