Foreign Lawyers

If you are a lawyer who holds a qualification from outside of the Republic of Ireland and you would like to practise in the Republic of Ireland jurisdiction, see below for the steps you need to follow.

Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT)

The QLTT is a conversion test which enables lawyers qualified in certain countries outside the Republic of Ireland to qualify as solicitors in this jurisdiction. There are two exam sittings of the test each year in Dublin.

Are you eligible?

For details of a list of countries and provinces covered by the QLTT regulations and more information about the qualification process, please see who can apply.

Northern Ireland Lawyers

Unless the Law Society otherwise determines, solicitors qualified in Northern Ireland are not obliged to pass any subject in the QLTT. However, you need to apply for a Certificate of Admission.

England & Wales

Unless the Law Society otherwise determines, solicitors qualified in England & Wales are not obliged to pass any subject in the QLTT. However, you need to apply for a Certificate of Admission.

EU Member State Lawyers

If you are a national of a Member State of the European Union and are qualified to practise as a lawyer in your home Member State, you may be able to register as a foreign qualified solicitor under the Establishment Directive (98/5/EC).

Article 3 of the Directive makes it obligatory for the immigrant lawyer to register with the competent authority in the state in which they are practising. Find out more about EU registered lawyers.

All Other Lawyers

All other lawyers (not qualified in the European Union or subject to a reciprocal agreement) are required to undergo the standard solicitor training process.

For further details please consult S.I. No. 85 of 1991, SI 732 of 2003, the Solicitors Acts, 1954 and 1960, (European Community) Regulations 1991 and SI No 35 of 2010. 

Steps to qualification via the QLTT

  1. The first step is to obtain a Certificate of Eligibility by completing the Certificate of Eligibility Form 

  2. If you are applying for exemptions from any of the QLTT exams, you need to send your application with proof of your relevant post qualification experience and fee to Zaneta Reszel, Roll of Solicitors Office, Education Department, Law Society of Ireland, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7 approximately 4 weeks before the Education Committee deadline date.

  3. If you have any queries about the Certificate of Eligibility and exemptions, please email Zaneta Reszel: coe@lawsociety.ie.

  4. When you have been granted a Certificate of Eligibility, you can then apply to sit the QLTT exams.

  5. All queries about the QLTT exams, dates, and application forms to sit the QLTT exams please email the  QLTT exams team qltt@lawsociety.ie

  6. When you have passed all the QLTT examinations and have been declared by the Education Committee to have passed your exams, you will be sent an application form to apply for admission to the Roll of Solicitors in Ireland. A further admission fee will be required at this time.

  7. Once on the Roll of Solicitors in Ireland, you are not required to undergo any further examinations/undertake a training contract.

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Practising certificates and solicitors outside the jurisdiction

In 2020, the Law Society conducted an in-depth review of the regulatory framework for issuing practising certificates to lawyers based outside of the jurisdiction, and made a number of policy changes affecting Irish-qualified lawyers based outside of the Republic of Ireland.