Ireland Finalizes Immigrant Investor Program Wind-Down

The arrangements relating to the end of Ireland’s Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) have been put in place.

The proposed arrangements cover a number of different categories of applications, as set out below:

1. Approved projects
   1. Approved projects which have requested additional funding based on increased construction costs;
   2. Approved projects which have requested additional funding who have introduced additional elements to the project outside of their approved Business Plan; and
   3. Approved projects which have stalled.
2. IIP Approved Investment Funds
3. Project Applications on hand pre-closure of the programme
4. Post-Closure project applications
   1. Projects submitted without an associated investor, including those where an attempt was made to transfer an existing investor application to serve as an investor for a new project;
   2. Projects submitted outside the timeframe allowed post closure of the Programme (including those projects where there was no previous substantive engagement with the IIP Unit);
   4. Projects that do not appear to be within the scope of the IIP programme;
   5. Projects which require planning permission; and
   6. Valid project applications which are in scope of the IIP and planning is not an issue.

Ireland IIP Review Priorities

• Under these arrangements, categories 1.2, 3, 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 will be prioritized for processing either because of the length of time the applications are on hand or because a decision can be issued quickly.
• Following this, categories 1.1 and 1.3 will be examined and decisions will be made on these applications. The remaining categories of applications will be examined thereafter.

Timeline for IIP Review

Given the volume of applications on hand, it is expected to take a number of years to process the remaining categories of applications to final decision.

Erickson Insights

The closing of the programme did not affect already approved applicants and projects under the IIP. However these projects will continue to be monitored for delivery and compliance with IIP requirements, and approved applicants will still need to meet certain requirements for renewal of their immigration permission.

Erickson Immigration Group will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions.