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Student visa for Ireland, for students from Kenya
As a citizen of Kenya you will normally need a student visa or residence permit for Ireland before your course starts. Some nationalities may enter Ireland without a visa and apply for the residence permit there instead; check the official page below for the rule that applies to your passport.
The numbers
- Money you must show
- €10,000 for a course of a year or longer
- Visa fee
- €60 single journey, €100 multi journey, plus €300 IRP registration on arrival
- Work while you study
- 20 hours a week in term, 40 hours in fixed holiday periods
- Stay after you graduate
- Stamp 1G: 12 months at level 8, up to 24 months at level 9 and above
€833 a month for shorter courses. This is an immigration threshold, not a budget: Dublin costs about three times this.
Irish Immigration Service Delivery, checked 2026-09-24
Irish Immigration Service Delivery, checked 2026-09-24
Holidays are fixed: June to September, and 15 December to 15 January.
Citizens Information / ISD, checked 2026-09-24
Irish Immigration Service Delivery, checked 2026-09-24
The visa
Long Stay 'D' study visa for any course over 90 days. Non-visa-required nationals, such as the US, Canada, Australia and Brazil, do not need the D visa but must still register on arrival and meet the same financial test.
Fees: €60 single journey, €100 multi journey, non-refundable if refused. Plus €300 for the IRP registration on arrival, payable again at each renewal, so a four-year degree costs €300 four times.
Mandatory private medical insurance. Every non-EEA student needs it; budget around €690 a year. Public healthcare is not available to you on Stamp 2.
Processing time: this is the part agency sites get wrong. They uniformly quote four to eight weeks. The Immigration Service's own decisions page, updated 22 September 2026, shows applications received on or before 22 June 2026 being processed, an effective backlog of about three months, and it lengthens before the academic year. You may apply up to three months before travel, so apply on day one of that window.
The money: €10,000 for a course of a year or longer, or €833 a month for shorter courses. This came into force on 30 June 2025 and applies to visa-required and non-visa-required nationals alike. It is in addition to fees paid or payable.
Be clear-eyed about what that figure is. Against UCD's own median of €2,445 a month, about €29,340 a year: €10,000 covers roughly four months. Students who budget to the visa minimum and expect part-time work to close the gap get into serious difficulty by their second term.
Where to apply
At the embassy or consulate of Ireland that covers Kenya, or through the visa application centre it names. Book early: in the busiest months appointments can be weeks away. Apply only through the official website; nobody can sell you a faster place in the queue.
Scholarships open to students from Kenya in Ireland
Questions students ask
Do students from Kenya need a visa to study in Ireland?
As a citizen of Kenya you will normally need a student visa or residence permit for Ireland before your course starts. Some nationalities may enter Ireland without a visa and apply for the residence permit there instead; check the official page below for the rule that applies to your passport.
How much money do I need to show for a Ireland student visa?
€10,000 for a course of a year or longer. €833 a month for shorter courses. This is an immigration threshold, not a budget: Dublin costs about three times this. (source: Irish Immigration Service Delivery, checked 2026-09-24).
Can I work while I study in Ireland?
20 hours a week in term, 40 hours in fixed holiday periods.
This page is general information from official sources, not immigration advice. For a decision about your own case, the official source or a regulated adviser is where that belongs.