The Irish Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) facilitates foreign investment into Ireland bringing benefits to Irish economy. Foreign investors benefit with long term residency rights in Ireland .
The purpose of the Immigrant Investor Programme (‘IIP’) is to enable non-EEA nationals and their families who commit to an approved investment to be given residency permissions to live and work in Ireland. The program was introduced in 2012 and has been in operation for around 5 years. A key objective of the IIP at its inception was the creation and supporting of employment.
Successful applicants receive a residency permission for 5 years. An initial permission will be granted for two years and following a review at that point to ensure the investor is continuing to meet the conditions of the scheme, a further period of 3 years will be granted. After this initial 5-year period, the investor will be free to apply for residence in 5-year tranches. The IIP scheme facilitates residency permits for the investor and his/her dependents. However, approved applicants do not need to take up residency immediately
2017 Amendments
The following changes to the IIP apply from 2017.The changes, which are set out below, are to take immediate effect.
- Enterprise Investment – €1.0m invested in an Irish enterprise for a minimum of 3 years (risen from previous amount of €0.5 million)
- Enterprise Investment Fund – €1.0m invested in an approved fund for a minimum of 3 years
- The application fee will increase to €1,500 per application (up from the previous amount of €750)
Statistics
The total investment received under IIP in Ireland by first quarter of 2017 is €209m
| Application Year | Total amount in submitted applications (€) | Total amount in approved applications (€) | |
| 2012 | €2,500,000 | €2,500,000 | |
| 2013 | €13,650,000 | €12,650,000 | |
| 2014 | €16,950,000 | €13,950,000 | |
| 2015 | €39,200,000 | €36,250,000 | |
| 2016 | €184,150,000 | €144,300,000 | |
| 2017 Q1 | €340,950,000 | €209,650,000 |
Total Number of applications
- 2012 – 5
- 2013 – 20
- 2014 – 33
- 2015 – 66
- 2016 – 329
- Q1 2017 – 90
Countries
Place of residence of applicant (2012 to end Q1 2017) % of total
- China 90.96%
- USA 1.88%
- UAE 0.75%
- Russia 0.38%
- Bahrain 0.19%
- Others 5.84%
Investment options
As the Enterprise option is the most popular option for applicants, it is important to carry out a breakdown of the types of enterprises that are supported. The most common areas of enterprise investment are in hotels, social housing, primary care centres and nursing homes.
Job creation
In 2016, €93.5m invested in enterprise option, created 1,110 jobs in Ireland, compared to 324 jobs created in 2015.
Economic benefits of IIP investors
- Personal Taxes – Residents pay local taxes on income earned in Ireland
- Local expenditure – Spend money on local services such as schools, hospitals, cars
- Other benefits associated with economic migrants – Knowledge spill overs, Innovation and connections to new markets
- deepening trading relationships with the native countries of the investors
Foreigners in Ireland
There are around 115,000 non-EEA nationals with permission to live in Ireland. This represents a slight increase from the 2015 figure. The current top five registered nationalities, which account for over 48.5% of all persons registered, are Brazil (13.2%), India (12.2%), China (9.2%), USA (7.9%) and Pakistan (6%). The majority of persons with permission to remain in the State are here for work or study purposes.
