The Paperwork Desk: the documents behind every teaching move
Before any visa comes the file: the Garda police certificate, the apostille from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the degree that may need a sworn translation. This desk maps the document rules for all ten destinations on our board straight from the official sources, with Irish costs and waiting times up front.
The Paperwork Desk
Your documents from home, priced and timed
Every teaching file starts with the same two documents, a police certificate and an apostille. Here is what they cost, how long they take and where they come from, before a single visa form is opened.
Garda, DFA fee and HCCH table re-read 28 October 2026
Destination by destination
What each country wants in the envelope
The core documents, the freshness deadlines and the official page that owns each rule. Apostille, legalisation and attestation labels are checked against the convention status table.
- Application through the Enter Hungary platform with one facial photograph
- Employment agreement or a preliminary contract
- Proof of subsistence, accommodation and health insurance
- Biometrics within 15 days of the application being received
- Criminal record document from your country of citizenship
- Certified Czech translations of anything not in Czech or Slovak
- Proof of accommodation and the job vacancy number
- Medical report and further records only if requested
- Criminal record certificate apostilled and issued within 3 months
- EU issued documents are exempt from formalisation
- Documents in English need no translation at all
- Proof of housing and means, a year of medical insurance, and the work contract
- No visa and no work permit for an Irish or other EU citizen
- Staying more than three months: register in person at the Oficina de Extranjeros for your province, or the Policía Nacional station
- Form EX-18, proof of payment of fee form 790 code 012, a valid passport, and evidence that you meet the conditions, such as your work contract
- NALCAP’s visa list of criminal record, medical certificate and Nombramiento is for North American assistants and does not apply to you
- Diploma with a Turkish translation by a sworn translator
- Employment contract signed by both you and the employer
- Private schools need the Ministry of National Education pre permit, the Ön İzin
- The employer files the registry and financial papers
- Your employer files first with INM on a letterhead job offer, MXN $239
- Apostille from convention members, consular legalisation otherwise
- Official Spanish translation of anything not in Spanish
- One photo to spec, white background, face clear, no glasses
- The UAE sits outside the apostille convention, so documents are attested instead
- The foreign ministry and the UAE mission in the issuing country stamp the chain
- Documents in Arabic or English, and never laminated
- The Work Bundle runs 5 steps and 5 documents in about 5 working days
- Every foreign document apostilled or legalised, with an official Spanish translation
- Contract summary form in the Ministry format, signed by both sides
- Employer motivation letter and four months of company financials
- Degree apostilled and translated for unregulated professions
- Apostille accepted since 11 September 2026, when Vietnam joined the convention. Consular legalisation applied up to 10 September
- Health certificate no older than 12 months, criminal record no older than 6
- Degree plus 3 years of experience for the expert route
- Two colour photos at 4 by 6 cm and a notarised passport copy
- Two photographs at 6 by 4 cm and a passport valid for 6 months or more
- Ministry of Manpower labour permit attached to every application
- Medical certificate attested by the Ministry of Health for listed nationalities
- Teaching posts need approval from the relevant organisation
Quick answers
Paperwork questions we hear most
Where do I get an apostille in Ireland?
From the Department of Foreign Affairs, which stamps Irish public documents for €40 each. There are public counters in Dublin on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and in Cork on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The stamp makes your degree or Garda certificate valid in the apostille convention countries, which number 130 on the HCCH table once Thailand joins on 28 February 2027.
How do I get a Garda police certificate?
Apply to the Superintendent for the Garda Division where you live, by post or online, with a certified copy of your passport or driving licence and proof of your addresses. It is free, takes about three weeks and stays valid for 12 months.
Do Irish teachers need a visa for Spain or Portugal?
No. Irish citizens move to Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Czechia under EU free movement, so the consular document lists on this desk apply to readers without an EU passport. Your school may still ask for a Garda certificate and your degree, so the home documents section above still earns its keep.
Which destinations refuse an apostille?
The UAE, which attests documents through its foreign ministry instead, and Taiwan, which authenticates through its own missions. Vietnam switched to apostilles on 11 September 2026, so it accepts them now. Thailand follows on 28 February 2027 and still needs consular legalisation until then.
Rules and fees change without notice. Every claim on this desk links to the official page it came from, and we correct this page in place between editions. Confirm with the embassy or programme before you pay for anything.
Updated 28 October 2026: three sources re-read and one card replaced. The Garda police certificates page still gives a free certificate, about three weeks to process and 12 months of validity, and the Garda card now adds what that page also says: the certificate is issued solely for five stated purposes, and a teaching job elsewhere in the EU is not one of them. The DFA fee of €40 per apostille stamp was re-read on ireland.ie and stands. The public counter days in Dublin and Cork were not on the page we read today and were not re-checked. The HCCH status table was re-read: Vietnam’s entry into force of 11 September 2026 and Thailand’s of 28 February 2027 both stand, and the table lists 130 contracting parties, Thailand included, so the FAQ now says so rather than counting Thailand before it joins. The Spain card was a NALCAP visa checklist, written for North American assistants, on a desk that tells Irish readers NALCAP is not their route. It now carries the rule that does apply to an Irish citizen staying more than three months, the EU registration certificate on form EX-18 with fee form 790 code 012, read on the Policía Nacional page today. The NALCAP list it replaced asked for a criminal record from every country of residence in the past five years, apostilled and translated, a medical certificate and the Nombramiento. Hungary, Czechia, Portugal and the non-EU destinations were not re-read today and keep their 7 August check.
Checked at the source, corrected in place
Every requirement on this page links to the government or programme page that owns it, with the date we last checked. When a fee or a rule moves, we correct the desk and say so. That is the standard our Editorial Charter holds every desk to.