After the Asylum Process & Housing Registering your immigration permission: Once you receive a decision from the minister confirming your positive immigration status, you need to make an appointment to register your permission with the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD). To book an appointment you need to make an online account through the ISD's portal. For information on how to make an online account see the relevant ISD webpage here. If you are a refugee and do not have the required identity documents to verify your identity for the purposes of making an online account you should email: [email protected] with a copy of your Ministerial grant letter (yellow page with your picture) and a copy of your Temporary Residence Certificate (TRC/ blue card). Currently there is a significant wait time for appointments. After you have attended your appointment you should receive your Irish Residence Permit (IRP) within 10 working days. Work: You no longer need your labour market access permit to work. You are permitted to work as a Stamp 4 holder and this is reflected on your IRP card. Social Welfare: If you require social welfare support, you should apply for a relevant payment as soon as you receive your Ministerial grant letter. If you are told you need to wait for your IRP to be issued before you can access a payment, we advise you contact your local citizen's information centre for advice and support.* For information on you social welfare entitlements and the relevant payments please see the citizens information webpage here. Please note, you are no longer entitled to the daily expenses allowance and this might be stopped suddenly. *In the Irish Supreme Court Sulaimon judgement (Sulaimon v Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform [2012] IESC 63) it was ruled that it is the letter of grant that establishes residency status and not the possession of a IRP card. Other Right and Entitlements Access to travel documents, family reunification and citizenship will vary depending on what status you are granted: refugee status, subsidiary protection or permission to remain. To find out more please check out This page For more details on family reunification and how to apply please check out this page Housing / Leaving IPAS Accommodation: Can I get help to pay rent? Yes, depending on your income. If you earn under a certain amount of money per year, you should be eligible for a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). HAP is a way the government can help you to pay rent. Before you become eligible for HAP, you will have to make a Social Housing Application to your local Council and wait for it to be approved. What is the maximum I can earn? If you are receiving a social welfare payment such as jobseekers allowance or, if you are earning under a certain amount of money per year, you should be able to apply for social housing and therefore, be eligible for HAP. The income limit will depend on where you live and your family size. To give an example: If you are a single person living in Dublin, you must earn less than 40'000 euro per year (after tax) to be eligible. To find your income limit, please check this table Please be aware, you cannot start a social housing application if you have no income. If you are not working, you will need to apply for a social welfare payment such as jobseekers allowance, disability allowance etc Step 1: Applying for Social Housing You will apply for social housing to your local Council. What is my local Council? Find your local council here: https://www.housingagency.ie/!nd-my-local-authority You must have a local connection to the Council to apply there. What is a local connection? Usually your local Council is the Council you are currently living in. You can also get a local connection through: Employment, education, medical needs, or family living in the area. Please do not apply for social housing to a council you have no local connection to. How do I apply for social housing? You will need to print and complete an application form and gather supporting documents. You can find the application from on the Council's website. The Dublin City Council form is here When you were granted status, you should have received a letter informing you of your housing caseworker who can support you. Housing caseworkers usually work for housing charities such Peter Mcverry and Depaul. You can ask your housing caseworker for help. You can also contact our office for advice. Please email [email protected] How long will it take for my application to be approved? This depends on the Council. You can expect to wait around 3 or 4 months. When your social housing application has been approved, your name will be added to a waiting list of social housing and you become eligible for HAP. Step 2: Finding somewhere to rent Finding somewhere to rent (especially within the HAP limits) in Ireland is extremely difficult but it is possible. Example email to send to landlord Step 3: Complete HAP paperwork You should request the (homeless) HAP paperwork from your Council, after your social housing application is approved. You will complete Section A and send it to the Council Your Landlord will complete Section B and send it to the Council. The supporting documents you will require are listed on the application form, make sure you provide everything they are looking for. If you need advice on completing the HAP paperwork, please email [email protected] How does HAP work? The overall amount you will receive depends on where (which Council) you apply for HAP. HAP contracts are usually for 2 years minimum. It can be very difficult to move out before the contract finishes. What is Homeless HAP (HHAP)? Only if you are moving out of IPAS accommodation or homeless services, you are entitled to homeless HAP. If you are staying with friends for instance, you are not entitled. In this case you will be entitled to regular HAP. There are extra benefits to HHAP: The HHAP rate is usually higher than the HAP rate. Also with HHAP, the The Council will pay your deposit + 1 or 2 months rent paid upfront. HAP and HHAP rates It can be confusing to calculate how much HAP or HHAP you will be granted. But it is very important that you do this correctly. You need to understand your budget in order to find a tenancy you can afford. The amount of HAP you will receive depends on various factors: if you want to find shared accommodation or rent your own place the size of your family where your tenancy is What are the regular HAP rates? HAP rates very different form Council to Council. Regular HAP rates are advertised online, you can see the full table here. However, the Councils have the discretion to offer more than the amount advertised online. What are the homeless HAP rates? For Homeless HAP, the Dublin Councils (see image below) can offer up to 50% more than the advertised HAP rate. Outside of Dublin, the Council can offer up to 20% more. To give you an idea, the table below shows the regular HAP rates as well as the maximum HHAP rates across four different Councils. 15 % Top Up Remember, if you need, you can also add an additional 15% of your income to your total HAP rate. Confused? here is a case study: I am a single person and my social housing application to DCC was approved. I want to try and rent my own home (not shared accommodation). I should be eligible for homeless HAP because I am moving out of IPAS accommodation. The Council offers me the maximum HHAP rate of €1215. I am working and earning €2000 euro per month:15% of 2000 is 300. Therefore, I can pay a top up of €300. This goes directly to my landlord. My total budget is €1515 Can I rent anywhere in Ireland? Yes, you will be able to rent anywhere in the country. For example, if you applied for social housing in Galway City Council. You will be able to rent (with HAP support) in Galway, Dublin or anywhere else in country. Once you are on a social housing list, you can get HAP in any county. You will need submit the HAP paperwork to your Council. In other words, the Council where you are on the list. You should get the HAP rate for the county where you are moving to (but you will only get the higher rate of Dublin HHAP if you are on a Dublin housing list). How can the Irish Refugee Council help me? If you need help completing your social housing application, email us and we will invite you to one of our weekly workshops. The demand for these is high, so you may have to wait one month. If you have found a place to rent and need help completing the HAP paperwork, or gathering the supporting documents, please email us and we will give you an appointment If your family are arriving to Ireland on family reunification and you need housing advice, please email [email protected] as early as possible in advance of their arrival If you have Stamp 4 and are looking for help accessing homeless services, we cannot help you with this. Please contact Focus Ireland, Tiglin The Lighhouse or Merchants Quay Ireland. Please be aware, accessing homeless services can be very difficult and very slow Manage Cookie Preferences