Visa policy of Ireland
Visa policy of Ireland
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Visa policy of Ireland

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Visa policy of Ireland

The visa policy of Ireland is set by the Government of Ireland and determines visa requirements for foreign citizens. If someone other than a European Union, EFTA or Common Travel Area citizen seeks entry to Ireland, they must be a national of a visa-exempt country or have a valid Irish visa issued by one of the Irish diplomatic missions around the world.

Although Ireland is a member of the European Union, it is not part of the Schengen Area and therefore sets its own visa policy. Ireland also operates the Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man which specifies open borders between the countries and territories. Established in 1923, it permits British and Irish citizens freedom of movement around the Common Travel Area and to cross its borders with minimal or no identity documents.

The visa policy of Ireland is similar to the visa policy of the Schengen Area. It grants visa-free entry to all Schengen Annex II nationalities, except for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Dominica, Georgia, Honduras, Kosovo, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Montenegro, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Ireland also grants visa-free entry to some additional countries – Belize, Fiji, Guyana, and Maldives.

Ireland's visa policy has been amended since its inception through primary legislation and statutory instruments. The Aliens Act of 1935 confers the power of deportation and the power of immigration control to the Minister for Justice of the Irish Free State. On 12 April 1935, the Irish Free State exempted citizens of the United Kingdom, Canada, Commonwealth of Australia, Dominion of New Zealand, Union of South Africa, Dominion of Newfoundland and British India from the Aliens Act and therefore did not recognise those citizens as aliens. The 1946 Aliens Order required all aliens to present a passport to an immigration control officer for inspection within 24 hours if not arriving from Great Britain or Northern Ireland. The maximum stay for aliens was one month.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Ireland had concluded bilateral visa exemption agreements with countries of Western Europe.

In 1962, Ireland changed the definition of alien and now included those countries named above, with the exception of those born in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. The 1962 Aliens Amendment Order exempted citizens of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, West Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States from visas for three months. It also gave special provisions to citizens of the British Commonwealth, whereby they were exempted by the Aliens Order of 1946, although they might be refused leave to land unless they complied with certain conditions. A 1966 amendment gave rights of admission to those states of the British Commonwealth, which was later revoked in 1972. In 1972, aliens were required to seek work permits from the Minister for Labour to work in the state. In 1975, Ireland published its first list of visa-exempt nationalities and also removed the special provisions from Commonwealth citizens under Irish law. In 1999 there was the first development of a comprehensive list of countries which required visas.

On 29 March 1988, the first Irish transit visa requirement was announced for Iran. Requirements for transit visas were announced for Poland, Bulgaria and Sri Lanka on 26 February 1988, for Moldova (3 February 1993), Cuba (1 November 1994), Iraq (19 July 1996). On 8 October 1996, Irish transit visa requirements were extended and included the countries currently listed as of January 2018, with the addition of Nigeria, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Zaire. Zimbabwe was added on 8 November 2002, as were Georgia and Ukraine (9 June 2017).

In terms of visa exemptions, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were exempted on 30 April 1996, followed by Hong Kong (25 June 1997), Brunei (17 February 1997), Croatia (26 January 1999). On 13 February 2001, Ireland exempted the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bolivia, Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Guyana, Kiribati, Maldives, Mauritius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. Macau was exempted on 27 April 2002, Slovakia (18 December 2003), Bulgaria and Romania (18 December 2006), Taiwan (1 July 2009), United Arab Emirates (31 January 2018) and Ukraine (25 February 2022).

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