Visa is a scary word to hear when living abroad.

I arrived to Ireland as a photography student in a school called NCBA, do no try to find it, it doesn’t exist anymore =D.

I was a student and my time to work was limited to 20 hours per week, having a demanding job with this short allowance was not great. I had to run from the school to the office back and forth with my photography gear at least three times per week.

If you live in Ireland you know the weather is not a blast. So I really needed a work permit.

First thing I did, I hired a solicitor. BAD IDEA . I paid a lot of money just to be told that I wouldn’t get it because I was not registered.

This person never explained me the variety of work permits that the Irish government offers, so I lived with this belief for six months. At some point, I was planning to go back to Mexico anyways so I didn’t bother to fully research.

The problem was that I loved my job, I was happy working at that company. The atmosphere in that practice was great, so I decided to try again but differently, on my own.

I contacted foreigners to ask about Visas and work permits and one day I learned about the Critical Skills Work Permit. This one allows you to get into the labour market faster as it has less conditions than the work permit.

I went through all the information and I realized that Architecture is not part of the list of this permit but Industrial Design was.

With all the support of the company I was working with, I applied and got it.

If it happens to be your case and want to apply for this permit I suggest:

-Even though it is not required, send a copy of your qualifications with an official translation.

-Try to do this procedure on your own and pay the process fees, this gives you freedom to apply again without losing money in case of rejection. Otherwise, if a small company sponsors this, they will probably lose the whole amount and they may not be happy to do it again.

-Get somebody that already has gone through this process to fill the form, it is important to do it right, specially to specify that you are legally living in the country.

Good luck and never give up =)