Bisnoi Healthcare Consulting
For candidates
What the route to Ireland actually costs, requires and takes, before you spend anything.
We place registered nurses and healthcare assistants with private nursing homes and homecare providers in Ireland. This page sets out the whole picture honestly, including the parts other agencies leave until after you have committed.
We never charge you a fee. Not to register, not to be interviewed, not to be placed, not for documentation, and not for training. Every cost of recruitment and placement is met by the employer or by our partner agency.
We do not offer loans, advances, or arrangements where costs are recovered from your wages. Irish law prohibits an employer or their agent from recovering recruitment or permit costs from a worker's pay, and we would not do it in any case.
What you pay for yourself
Two costs belong to you, because they belong to you personally and stay with you regardless of which employer you join:
- Your English language test. IELTS Academic or OET, booked and paid by you at a test centre in your own country.
- Your professional registration. For nurses, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland charges roughly €350 for the overseas qualification application and €145 for registration. Check nmbi.ie for current amounts, and pay NMBI directly, never through an agent.
Where an employer offers a relocation package it may cover flights, initial accommodation, the employment permit fee, and in some cases the aptitude test or adaptation programme. That money comes from the employer and is never recovered from you. We cannot promise it in advance, because it varies by employer.
What you need before we can help
Registered nurses
- A recognised nursing qualification and, in most cases, at least two years of recent clinical experience
- IELTS Academic at 7.0 overall, with 7.0 in three components and no less than 6.5 in one, or OET at grade B with no less than C+ in one component
- An NMBI decision letter, or a willingness to begin that application
Healthcare assistants and care workers
- Relevant care experience, and a QQI Level 5 qualification or an equivalent your employer accepts
- A role paid at or above the current minimum for a care worker employment permit, which is €16.12 per hour
- An employer willing to sponsor a General Employment Permit, which is subject to an annual national quota
NMBI registration applies to nurses and midwives only. Healthcare assistants do not register with NMBI.
How long it takes
| Stage | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| English language test, from study to result | Varies by candidate |
| NMBI qualification recognition, for nurses | Several months, and it cannot be accelerated |
| Employment permit decision | Roughly 10 to 12 weeks from submission |
| Visa, travel and start date | Several further weeks |
Realistically, a nurse starting from the beginning should plan for the better part of a year. Anyone promising you a start date in six weeks is either misinformed or misleading you.
How to register
Email careers@bisnoiconsulting.ie with a short note about your role, your experience, your English test status and where you are based. Attach your CV.
Please do not send passport copies, identity documents, photographs, or medical or family details at this stage. We do not need them to assess your application, and we delete anything we do not need. Read our privacy notice before you send anything.
We will tell you plainly whether we can help. If we have no suitable vacancy, we will say so rather than leave you waiting.
Ethical recruitment
We follow the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel. We do not run recruitment campaigns in countries on the WHO health workforce support and safeguards list, which identifies countries facing the most pressing health workforce shortages. If you live in one of those countries and approach us directly, we will be straightforward with you about what that means for your application.
Protect yourself, whoever you deal with. Anywhere in the world, treat these as warning signs:
- Any request for money in exchange for a job, an interview, or a "slot"
- An offer to pay your costs and recover them from your salary later
- Pressure to hand over your passport, or to leave it with an agent
- A guaranteed job before you have an English test result or a registration decision
- An employment contract you are not allowed to read in full before signing
If anyone asks you for money in connection with a role we are handling, tell us immediately at careers@bisnoiconsulting.ie.