HOSTING AGREEMENT Scheme of admission third country researchers to Ireland

1. HOSTING AGREEMENT Scheme of admission third country researchers to Ireland Magdalena Wislocka EURAXESS Ireland Camerino 2009

2. Who we are • National organisation for the EURAXESS Services Network in Ireland Dr Conor O’ Carroll: Research Director Jennifer Cleary: Head of EURAXESS Ireland Magdalena Wislocka: Helpdesk & Hosting Agreement Scheme Manager • Provides 2 key national services – EURAXESS & Marie Curie NCP • Strong in-house expertise & experience relating to researcher mobility issues

3. The Researcher Hosting Agreement Scheme, which Ireland opted into voluntarily in 2007, implements a European Union Directive on the admission of third country nationals for the purpose of conducting research. The scheme enables approved research active organisations to recruit researchers from outside the EEA to carry out research in Ireland without the need for a Work Permit. This mechanism facilitates researchers and their immediate family for the duration of their contract. EURAXESS Ireland, hosted in the IUA, is a government appointed central processing house for hosting agreements and plays a key role in the official accreditation and immigration process. Implementation of the Third Country Directive in Ireland

4. Who can avail of the Hosting Agreement Scheme in Ireland ? • Researches from accredited institutions, engaged in defined research projects on a contract of employment of minimum 3 months. • Salary must be at least €30,000 for researchers with families and €25,000 for researchers without accompanying dependants in Ireland.

5. Hosting agreement has several advantages • It is free to the research institutions (accredited for the Scheme) • Fast tracks Visa application • It provides for instant family re-unification (spouse and dependents can come in to Ireland immediately) • Spouses of H.A holders have easier access to employment than spouses of other non EEA employees in Ireland • It covers the length of the employment contract • It speeds up the naturalisation process (Long term residency after 2 yrs vs 5 yrs on work permit) • It takes 1– 3 days to process a hosting agreement

6. How the System Works Firs step Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Research organisation Pubic (University) Private (Industry) Application for Accreditation lodged by an organisation Application approved and Accreditation granted (average waiting time: 7 days)

7. How It Works Second Step Research organisation offers Hosting Agreements to a non EEA researcher Approved research Organisation (university, technological institutes, industrial organisations etc…)

8. How It WorksFurther steps…and who is involved • EURAXESS Ireland • (IUA) • validates HAs • processes HAs • informs Immigration • provides service for HA • applicants and organisations • at each stage • of the scheme… • Research • Organisation • issues a H.A to a • researcher • posts a • copy to IUA… • Immigration • (INIS) • circulates • details to local • Police offices • (GNIB)… • GNIB (Police) • gives • permission to • remain in Ireland • to researchers and their • dependants EXTRANET

9. Immigration issues Researcher presents a hosting agreement on the visa application Visa officer can check the application against a central database EXTRANET operated by EURAXESS Ireland Researcher (with or without dependants) presents a H.A at the airport to an immigration officer and gets permission to enter Ireland Researcher signs a contract with a Hosting Organisation and gets a hosting agreement Researcher is required to get registered at a local Police office and gets a permission to remain in Ireland Local immigration officers have a list of current hosting agreements and are able to verify hosting agreement holders. Researchers have to register annually, as permission to remain is issued for 1 year

10. Hosting Agreement Form is very simple • Agreements are individually numbered • An original copy of a H.A is kept by the researcher for immigration purposes • A photocopy of a H.A is sent to the EURAXESS Ireland for processing • Processing time: • 1-3 days

11. Hosting Agreement EXTRANEThttps://hosting.researchcareersireland.com/ • Has been developed with financial support of the DETE and the IUA • Highly Secure constantly updated database • Contains details of all agreements processed in Ireland for non EEA researchers • Can be accessed, for verification purposes, by accredited researcher organisations, immigrations authorities including Irish embassies and consulates abroad • The EXTRANET is a part of a hosting agreement processing system- details of new agreements being automatically forwarded to a dedicated recipient in the immigration department

16. Statistics • 22 research institutions accredited including 2industrial organisation • There are 7universities and 14 Institutes of Technology in Ireland • 737 hosting agreements processed to date including 510live contracts • Total number ofresearchers in Ireland: 3000 including H.A researchers (ca 17 % on H.A) • Researchers represent 63different nationalities Other56 countries 256 35 % China 129 18% India 138 19% 37% Pakistan 20 Canada 28 America 94 13% Australia 29 Russia 36 Researchers with a hosting agreement in Ireland by country of origin

17. Testimonials "The involvement of the Irish Universities Association has been critically important in making the researchers system a success.    It gives the immigration service a single point of contact for the day to day management of the system and the IUA's detailed understanding of the research environment gives us the confidence that only reputable institutions and researchers can participate".Kevin O’Sullivan Director Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

18. Researchers who cannot qualify for Hosting Agreements in Ireland University invites a non EEA Researcher and contact EURAXESS Ireland for assistance EURAXESS Ireland brings the case to the appointed contact persons at INIS (1-2 days) Immigration (INIS) sorts out queries on a ‘case by case basis’ (1day- 2 weeks) … and issues an ‘Invited Researcher Visa’

19. Contact Details Magdalena Wislocka E-mail:magda@iua.ie mobility@iua.ie Telephone:+353-(0)1-6764948 Addressee:48 Merrion Squarre, Dublin 2 Ireland Website:www.euraxess.ie