An Irish citizen working in the UK needs no visa, no sponsorship and no electronic travel authorisation (ETA). Under the Common Travel Area, gov.uk says Irish citizens do not need permission to enter or remain in the UK and can work there, employed or self-employed. Since 31 December 2020 that position has also been written into UK law as section 3ZA of the Immigration Act 1971. For an automation, controls or maintenance engineer, that means you can apply for any UK job that suits you, including the many that would never sponsor a visa.
This is information about working in the UK, not legal advice. Rules change, so check gov.uk or an immigration adviser registered with the OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner) for your own situation, especially if you hold another nationality as well or have a criminal record.
Can Irish citizens work in the UK without a visa?
Yes. The government's Common Travel Area guidance (last updated 1 January 2026) says Irish citizens have a unique status under UK law and do not need a visa, residence permit or employment permit. It also says Irish citizens did not need to do anything to protect that status when free movement ended, and do not need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, although they may if they wish.
The legal basis is section 2 of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020, which inserted section 3ZA into the Immigration Act 1971. It says an Irish citizen does not require leave to enter or remain in the UK, with narrow exceptions such as a deportation or exclusion order.
The ETA does not apply to you either. gov.uk says people with a British or Irish passport do not need one. Most other European visitors do need an ETA (it costs £20 as of 30 October 2026), and an ETA does not allow paid or unpaid work.
Irish citizen vs EU citizen: what each needs for UK work
The difference is large. An EU citizen who did not live in the UK before 2021 needs a visa to work, usually through a licensed sponsor. An Irish citizen needs nothing beyond proof of identity.
| Irish citizen | Other EU citizen (no EU Settlement Scheme status) | |
|---|---|---|
| Permission to work | Not needed (Common Travel Area, Immigration Act 1971 s.3ZA) | Needed, usually a Skilled Worker visa |
| Employer sponsorship | Not needed | Needed for Skilled Worker; only licensed sponsors can do it |
| ETA to visit | Not needed | Usually needed (£20); no work allowed on it |
| Salary floor set by immigration rules | None | Generally the higher of £41,700 and the going rate for the job |
| Visa fee and health surcharge | None | From £819 plus £1,035 a year surcharge (outside UK, up to 3 years) |
| Right-to-work proof | Irish passport or passport card (current or expired), or an online identity check | Online share code from UKVI |
| English test | None | CEFR B2 for new Skilled Worker applicants |
Figures are from gov.uk as of 30 October 2026. For the full EU picture, see our guide to moving to the UK as an EU automation engineer.
What right-to-work check will a UK employer do?
Every UK employer must check that you can work before you start. For Irish citizens the check is simple, but it is different from the one EU colleagues do.
- No share code. gov.uk says British and Irish citizens cannot get an online share code. Do not try to generate one.
- Show your Irish passport or Irish passport card. gov.uk says it can be current or expired for this purpose. The employer checks the original and keeps a copy.
- Or an online identity check. If you have a passport or passport card, the employer may use a certified identity service provider (IDSP) instead. Whether this is offered is up to the employer.
If a recruiter asks for a share code or a visa, tell them you are an Irish citizen and point them to the gov.uk page on checking a job applicant's right to work. It saves a week of back and forth.
Do you need a National Insurance number?
Yes, for working in the UK you will want one, but you do not need it on day one. gov.uk says you can apply if you live in the UK, have the right to work and are working, looking for work or have a job offer, and you can start work before the number arrives if you can prove your right to work. It can take up to 4 weeks. An Irish PPS number does not replace it.
Does Northern Ireland count as the UK job market?
Yes. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, so the same Common Travel Area rights and the same UK right-to-work rules apply in Belfast as in Birmingham. For many engineers in the border counties, a Northern Ireland job is the first UK move without relocating.
The bigger market is Great Britain. Manufacturing, food and drink, pharmaceuticals, water, warehousing and energy sites across England, Scotland and Wales hire controls and maintenance engineers. You can search them by role and region on our UK engineering jobs board. Because you do not need sponsorship, you are not limited to the employers on the Home Office register, which matters for smaller integrators and contract roles.
Are the wiring rules different in the UK?
Yes, and it matters if your work includes electrical installation rather than only PLC programming.
- Republic of Ireland: the National Rules for Electrical Installations, I.S. 10101, published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) in March 2020. It replaced ET 101:2008.
- Great Britain and Northern Ireland: BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations. The current version is BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, published on 15 April 2026, which the IET describes as the UK national standard.
Both are based on the international IEC 60364 approach, so the physics and most of the method carry over, but tables, terminology and certification paperwork differ. If you want a UK electrician card, note one more point: the ECS (Electrotechnical Certification Scheme) says anyone trained outside the UK, which includes Ireland, needs an Ecctis skills statement and the Electrotechnical Experienced Worker Assessment before an ECS gold card as an installation or maintenance electrician. Our free BS 7671 courses, including Wiring Regulations in Practice, are a way to learn the UK book before you sit anything formal.
One naming trap: in Ireland, "PLC" also means a Post Leaving Certificate course, a further education programme run by the Education and Training Boards. On UK job boards PLC always means programmable logic controller.
How does UK pay compare with Ireland?
The two countries publish different measures, so compare with care. Conversions below use the European Central Bank reference rate of 29 October 2026 (€1 = £0.83578), rounded.
| Measure | Figure | In the other currency |
|---|---|---|
| UK median gross annual pay, full-time employees, April 2026 (ONS, provisional) | £40,911 | about €48,950 |
| Ireland median annual earnings, all employments, 2024 (CSO) | €44,816 | about £37,460 |
| Ireland median annual earnings, industry sector, 2024 (CSO) | €50,000 | about £41,790 |
| UK permanent PLC Engineer adverts, median, 6 months to 30 Oct 2026 (ITJobsWatch) | £60,000 | about €71,790 |
Two cautions. The CSO figure counts all employments, including part-time, so it is lower than a full-time figure would be. And ITJobsWatch measures advertised salaries for a small sample (153 adverts), with a 10th percentile of £42,500 and a 90th of £65,000. For live medians by role, see our UK engineering pay index and the PLC engineer salary guide. Taxes, pensions and living costs also differ, so compare take-home pay for a real offer, not headline medians.
How do you start applying for UK automation jobs?
- Search the whole market. Use the jobs board without a sponsorship filter. The visa sponsor checker is for colleagues who need sponsorship; you do not.
- Say it on your CV. Add one line near the top: "Irish citizen, full right to work in the UK, no sponsorship required." Recruiters screening hundreds of applications look for exactly that.
- Close the gaps. If your experience is mostly Irish pharma or medtech, it is already relevant to UK sites. Fill gaps in Siemens or Allen-Bradley with our free courses, such as Siemens TIA Portal, and practise in the browser 3D Lab without installing anything.
- Check salary against the role. Use salary pages before you negotiate.
If you are still in Ireland and prefer local options first, our pages on PLC training in Dublin, Cork and Galway cover the online routes. EDWartens is a training and jobs site, not an immigration service, and nothing here is legal advice.
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Take a free course from our catalogue (the certificate is optional at £19), practise on the 3D Lab, then browse UK automation and maintenance jobs that you can apply for today with no sponsorship needed.
