JET Ireland closes 4 December, by email only, and the file is stricter than the American one
Issue 5 could not verify Ireland’s JET closing date. This issue can: the Embassy of Japan in Dublin published it on 30 September and we read it at source today. What follows is the Embassy’s own eleven-item checklist, taken apart line by line, with the three rules in it that disqualify an otherwise complete application. Further down, a quiet change on gov.ie about Spain, and the date the Americans got for France.
If you hold an Irish passport and want to go to Japan on the JET Programme in 2027, your application must reach the Embassy of Japan in Dublin by email by 23:59 on Friday 4 December 2026, as one combined PDF under 10 MB, in the order of the Embassy’s checklist. Your two referees must email their letters to the JET Desk themselves, and the Embassy says in plain words that a reference arriving after the deadline disqualifies you. Transcripts must be originals or certified copies, every page signed and stamped, from every institution you attended, including a semester abroad. You need a bachelor’s degree in any subject by July 2027. The pay, published by JET itself, is 4.02 million yen a year.
On the wire this fortnight
- Japan, the date. 23:59, Friday 4 December 2026, Embassy of Japan in Ireland, read at source 14 October. Email only this year, to the JET Desk. One intake a year.
- Japan, the three traps. Late references disqualify. CVs are discarded unopened, so the employment history goes on the form or a one-page attachment in the same format. Early arrival candidates need a Police Certificate and a Certificate of Health, with the certificate itself landing by 28 January 2027.
- Japan, the timeline. Interview invitations by email in January 2027, interviews in person in Dublin in January and February, shortlist in April, placements in May, departure late July 2027.
- Spain — corrected 16 October 2026. This issue reported that the English gov.ie page had dropped its 2026/27 closure note. Both the English and the Irish-language pages were re-read at source on 16 October and both carry the closure note in full, and both still link the Spain application form. The wording quoted in this issue is not on either page today. The position stands as Issue 5 reported it: no new Irish places on the ELA programme in Spain for 2026/27. Full note in the Spain desk below.
- France, for the Americans. TAPIF 2027/28 opens 15 October and closes 15 February 2027. Not an Irish route; the Irish route to a French assistantship is the ELA scheme, whose 2027/28 forms are not up yet.
- Dublin, in person. The Embassy’s JET coordinator gives an information session at DCU Glasnevin on 26 October, listed by the DCU Careers Service. No registration needed.
The Japan desk: the date, and where it came from
Our sister title’s Edition 3 said JET 2027 would open in September. It did, on 21 September. Issue 5 here said the Irish closing date was unverifiable and that our Deadline Alerts panel would say so rather than name a month. On the morning that issue was swept, the Embassy’s page had been updated and our founder read it and published the date on the alerts page. This desk had not read it. Now it has. The Embassy of Japan in Ireland’s JET page, dated 30 September 2026 and read on 14 October, gives one intake a year, closing at 23:59 on Friday 4 December 2026, with applications accepted by email only this year to the JET Desk address on that page. The Embassy’s eligibility list for 2027 asks for an Irish passport, a bachelor’s degree in any subject by July 2027, excellent written and spoken English, no more than six consecutive years in Japan since 2017, and no JET participation since the 2024 programme year.
The sentence that matters most on that page. Asked whether an application that arrives on time will be disqualified if the transcripts or references arrive after the deadline, the Embassy answers: yes, you will. The JET Desk is not responsible for lost or late materials. Everything in the checklist below is built around that answer.
What we could not verify. JET’s salary of 4.02 million yen a year is published on the programme’s own site, not on the Embassy page, and we did not re-read it this issue; our sister title’s board carries it at about 22,500 euro at the ECB reference rate of 29 September. The Embassy page gives no number of Irish places. And the United Kingdom’s 5 November date is on our alerts page from a prior read; the UK programme site cannot be read without a browser and we did not re-verify it today.
Sources: Embassy of Japan in Ireland, Applying for the JET Programme in Ireland, page dated 30 September 2026, read 14 October 2026. For the standing picture, our European teacher’s guide to the JET Programme.
The eleven documents, in the Embassy’s order, and the trap in each
| # | Document | What the Embassy says | The trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Application form | The 2027 form only, in block capitals or PDF form fill, signed | Last year’s form is invalid and the page says using it may disqualify you. Download it fresh from the Embassy page |
| 2 | Self-Report of Medical Conditions | Signed | A yes to questions 1, 2a, 2b or 3 triggers item 9, a Statement of Physician, which needs a GP appointment |
| 3 | Two reference letters | Academic or professional, in English or Japanese, emailed directly by the referees to the JET Desk. If you have not graduated, one must be from your university and state your expected graduation date | Personal references from classmates, colleagues, family, friends or student tutors are not accepted. A late reference disqualifies the whole application. Send your referees the Embassy’s reference guidelines this week |
| 4 | Transcripts | Original or certified, each page signed and stamped by the university, from the Registrar, for every college attended including a study abroad placement | A download from the student portal is not a certified transcript. Registrars take time, and a semester abroad means a second registrar in another country |
| 5 | Statement of Purpose | Typed, single-sided, double-spaced, A4, not more than two pages, strictly observed | Two pages double-spaced is roughly 500 to 600 words. Most first drafts are twice that |
| 6 | Proof of degree | Graduates: a scan of the degree certificate, all degrees held. Final years: a certificate of expected graduation or proof of current attendance | Reduce certificates to A4. Both a BA and an MA need to be in the file if you hold both |
| 7 | Proof of nationality | A copy of your Irish passport | If the passport is out of date at the deadline, add a copy of your birth certificate as well |
| 8 | TEFL, TESL or JLPT certificates | Only if you hold them | Optional, but the Embassy lists them, so a TEFL certificate belongs in the file rather than in a sentence of the essay |
| 9 | Statement of Physician | Only if triggered by item 2 | Needs a doctor, so it cannot be done the week of the deadline |
| 10 | Police Certificate | Only for applicants with a record, or anyone requesting April or early arrival. Proof of having applied is accepted at the deadline, with the certificate itself due by Thursday 28 January 2027 | Issue 4 covered the Garda Police Certificate: free, about three weeks, issued for stated purposes only. Apply now if you want early departure |
| 11 | Certificate of Health | Only for April or early arrival candidates, on the Embassy’s form, also by 28 January 2027 | A second medical appointment for early arrivals. Decide on early arrival before you book one |
Source: the Application Checklist on the Embassy of Japan in Ireland JET page, read 14 October 2026. Combine everything into one PDF in this numerical order; the Embassy mail server rejects anything over 10 MB, and the page allows a split into two emails only if the attachment is larger than that. For the Garda certificate itself, Issue 4 and The Paperwork Desk.
The CV rule, because it catches people every year
The form asks for employment history and the space is small. The Embassy’s answer is not to attach a CV: CVs are discarded when the application is opened, and you get credit only for what is on the form or on a single one-page attachment in the same format as the form, which you must flag on the form itself. Fill the form’s spaces first, then the one page.
The timeline, as the Embassy publishes it
| When | What happens | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Now to 4 Dec 2026 | Application window open. Submit by email, 23:59 on 4 December | Live wire |
| 26 Oct 2026 | JET information session at DCU Glasnevin, Henry Grattan Building, led by the Embassy’s JET coordinator. Open to final years, postgraduates and anyone interested, no registration | Live wire |
| Dec 2026 to Jan 2027 | Written screening. Interview invitations by email in January | Watch it |
| Jan to Feb 2027 | Interviews, in person, Dublin. CIR interviews in Japanese and English | Watch it |
| 28 Jan 2027 | Police Certificate and Certificate of Health due for early arrival candidates | Watch it |
| April 2027 | Shortlist announced. April arrivals leave | Watch it |
| May 2027 | Placement notification and contracting organisation for July arrivals. Alternates may be upgraded from May to December | Watch it |
| Late June to late July 2027 | Pre-departure orientation, then departure and start of appointment | Watch it |
Sources: the Recruitment Timeline 2026-2027 on the Embassy of Japan in Ireland JET page, read 14 October 2026, and the DCU Careers Service event listing for 26 October. The Embassy is also running stands at Irish universities this autumn; its JET information page carries the schedule.
The Spain desk: the line on gov.ie has changed, and we are printing both versions
Correction, 16 October 2026. This section, published on 14 October, reported that the English gov.ie ELA page had dropped its 2026/27 Spain closure note and replaced it with a line saying applications were “not open at this time” with “further details available shortly”. Both language versions of that page were re-read at source on 16 October, twice, with a cache-busting request. Both carry the closure note in full and in the same words — due to continued administrative issues, it will not be possible to offer any new places on the ELA programme in Spain for the 2026-2027 academic year — both print it twice, and both still link the Spain application form. The wording quoted below appears on neither page today.
We cannot tell from here whether the page was edited on 14 October and has since been changed back, or whether the reading was wrong on the day. Either way the live position is the one Issue 5 reported and the standing pages carry: no new Irish places for 2026/27, and no 2027/28 date. The two paragraphs below are kept as published, per our corrections policy, and this note governs them. The hub board, the alerts band and the Deadline Alerts page were corrected to the live position in the same sweep.
Issue 5 quoted the Department of Education and Youth’s English Language Assistant page verbatim: due to continued administrative issues, it would not be possible to offer any new places on the ELA programme in Spain for 2026/27. That sentence is no longer on the English version of the page. Read on 14 October, the English page says, under the Spain heading: applications for the Spanish ELA programme are not open at this time, but further details on the programme will be available shortly. The Spain application form and terms are no longer linked from it.
The Irish-language version of the same page, last updated 15 June 2026 and read the same day, still carries the closure note in full and still links the Spain form. Two versions of one government page now say different things, and we do not know which is the current position. The Spanish Ministry’s own Ireland page, which the Irish-language version links to, says it is anticipated that Spain will be in a position to resume participation in the ELA programme in the future, with no year named.
What this is and is not. It is a softening of the wording, from a closure to a wait. It is not an opening, and no 2027/28 date, place count or form has been published for Spain or for any other ELA country. The 2026/27 round for Austria, Germany, France, Italy and Belgium closed on 12 March 2026, and the 2027/28 forms are not up. Last year’s pattern puts them on the page in the winter with a March close, and a pattern is not a date. We will print the line the day it changes again.
Nothing in Issue 5 is corrected by this. Its finding was true on 30 September and was re-confirmed on 1 October; the page has since been edited.
Sources: gov.ie, English Language Assistant (ELA) Scheme, English; the same page in Irish, last updated 15 June 2026; Spanish Ministry of Education, Ireland office. All read 14 October 2026. For the routes that are open to an Irish passport now, Issue 5 and TEFL jobs in Spain.
Elsewhere on the Group wire
Our sister title leads this week with France: Villa Albertine opens the Teaching Assistant Program in France for 2027/28 on 15 October and closes it on 15 February 2027, at 1,010.67 euro gross a month. That route is for United States citizens and permanent residents, so it is not yours. An Irish passport reaches a French assistantship through the same ELA scheme above, whose France terms and a tutorial for Irish candidates are on gov.ie for the round just gone. The British Council’s assistantship for United Kingdom residents opens in November. The TEFL Institute’s Hire Wire keeps the American and British routes and the rest of the world. We keep Ireland and Europe. Neither reprints the other.
Note, 22 October 2026. This issue was published on 14 October, when TAPIF’s 2027/28 window was still a day away, so the paragraph above and the France line in the summary both name it in the future tense. The window opened on 15 October 2026 as published and runs to 15 February 2027. It remains open to United States citizens and permanent residents only, so it is still not an Irish route. The sentences are kept as sent, per our corrections policy, and this note governs them. The hub board, the deadline alerts band and the Deadline Alerts page all carry the opened window in the past tense.
What we could not verify
Four things, named so the gaps are visible. The number of Irish JET places is not on the Embassy page. JET’s salary was not re-read on the programme site this issue and the euro figure is our sister title’s conversion. The United Kingdom’s 5 November JET date is from our alerts page and could not be re-read at source. And which gov.ie version is current on Spain, the English page without the closure note or the Irish page with it, is not something we can settle from here; the Department’s ELA address is the one that would know, and if it answers we will print it. Every figure in this issue is in euro or yen as published; no conversion was made here.
When does the JET Programme close for Irish applicants in 2026?
The 2027 JET Programme application closes at 23:59 on Friday 4 December 2026. Applications from Irish citizens go to the Embassy of Japan in Ireland by email only, as one combined PDF, and there is one intake a year. Irish citizens living abroad must still apply through the Dublin Embassy.
What documents does the Irish JET application need?
The Embassy’s checklist has eleven items: the 2027 application form, a Self-Report of Medical Conditions, two reference letters emailed directly by the referees, certified transcripts from every institution attended, a two-page Statement of Purpose, proof of degree or expected graduation, a copy of your passport, any TEFL, TESL or JLPT certificates, and, where they apply, a Statement of Physician, a Police Certificate and a Certificate of Health.
Can I attach my CV to a JET application?
No. The Embassy discards CVs when the application is opened. Employment history goes on the application form, with at most a one-page attachment in the same format if the form’s space runs out, flagged on the form.
Do I need a Garda Police Certificate for JET?
Only if you have a criminal record, or if you request an April or early arrival. In that case proof that you have applied is accepted at the deadline, and the certificate itself must reach the Embassy by 28 January 2027. The Garda certificate is free and takes about three weeks.
What is the JET Programme salary?
JET publishes 4.02 million yen a year on its own programme site. We did not re-read that page for this issue; our sister title’s board carries the figure at about 22,500 euro at the ECB reference rate of 29 September 2026. The yen figure is the one to plan with.
Is the Irish ELA route into Spain open again?
No. Updated 16 October 2026: both the English and the Irish-language gov.ie pages were re-read at source and both carry the same note — due to continued administrative issues it will not be possible to offer any new places on the ELA programme in Spain for the 2026-2027 academic year. An earlier version of this answer said the English page had replaced that note with a line about further details to follow; that wording is not on either page today. No 2027/28 date, places or form have been published for Spain or any other ELA country.
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Written by Jess Jeffrey for The Hire Wire, The TEFL Institute of Ireland. Jess taught in South Korea and Vietnam and wrote our sister title’s Issues 1 and 5. Every figure was checked against its official source on 14 October 2026 and links to it. Nothing here is immigration, legal or tax advice; the offices named are the ones to ask. Corrections are made here in place and noted. Read our Editorial Charter, or open The Paperwork Desk, The Visa Desk, The Salary Index and Deadline Alerts.