I already have a valid C-General Visa for the UK: do I need a separate visa for Ireland?
Yes. But recently the Minister for Justice introduced a short stay visa waiver programme for certain nationalities on a trial basis.
The Short-stay Visa Waiver Programme was announced by the Irish Government as part of its Jobs Initiative with a view to promoting tourism from emerging markets. It commenced on 1 July 2011. The programme will run up to end October 2016 but may be amended or expanded at any point.
The below document contains current information relating to the Irish Short Stay visa waiver programme.
If you hold a passport from any one of the countries listed below, you may fall under the short stay visa waiver programme if you hold a valid UK C General Visa. If you are from one of these countries, please click on the PDF file below for more information on the Visa Waiver Programme. If you are from a country not listed below, you will be required to have a valid Irish visa regardless of whether you have a valid UK Visa.
|
Bahrain |
Montenegro |
Serbia |
|
Belarus |
Oman |
Thailand |
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
People's Republic of China |
Turkey |
|
Ukraine |
Kuwait |
Saudi Arabia |
|
India |
Qatar |
United Arab Emirates |
|
Kazakhstan |
Russian Federation |
Uzbekistan |
Note:
Irish Short-stay Visa Waiver Programme
From 1 January 2014 passport holders of Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will be able to travel to the UK if they have obtained an Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) document online. The Irish Short stay Visa Waiver Programme will continue to operate in relation to passport holders of the three countries concerned who avail of the EVW document for travel to the UK.
Holders of EVW documents who wish to avail of the Irish Programme are advised to have a copy of the EVW document for presentation on request at an Irish port of entry.