Press release
Ministers Humphreys and Browne announce resumption of short stay visa processing
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Justice, Heather Humphreys TD, and the Minister of State for Law Reform, Youth Justice and Immigration, James Browne TD, have today announced the resumption of short stay entry visa processing.
The move will come into effect from Monday, 13 September 2021, and applications for short stay visas will open again from that date for the first time since March 2020.
It will benefit travellers from all countries which require a visa to enter Ireland, such as China, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
Making the announcement, Minister Humphreys said:
"As the pandemic situation continues to improve and international travel once again becomes a feature of our lives, I was pleased to inform my Cabinet colleagues this week of the resumption of short stay visa processing.
"I am sure it will be welcomed by many people who wish to travel to Ireland to visit, study or do business.
"This is in line with the next phase of the government’s response to the pandemic, COVID-19: Reframing the Challenge, Continuing Our Recovery and Reconnecting.
"We remain fully supportive of the current public health advice and all travellers arriving into Ireland must continue to comply fully with measures required by law including producing proof of vaccination, recovery from COVID-19 or a negative RT-PCR test."
Highlighting the benefits of the resumption, Minister Browne said:
"As Minister of State for Immigration I fully appreciate how difficult these restrictions, which were necessary to keep us all safe, have been for many people. As we continue to reopen our society, the resumption of short stay visa processing will be welcome news for people who want to travel to Ireland to visit family, to study or for business reasons.
"This means that all remaining COVID-19 restrictions on entry visa and preclearance processing, which were brought in as a necessary interim measure to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, have now been lifted."
The decision to temporarily cease processing short stay visa applications, except for cases that fell under the Emergency/Priority criteria, applied to all countries and was in place since 21 March 2020.
Processing will resume for visa required nationals legally resident in the EEA who can produce a valid Digital COVID Certificate (DCC). It will also resume for people in this category where they do not have a DCC on the basis that if they can obtain alternative acceptable proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours before arrival to the State this will satisfy pandemic measures on arrival.
For travel from outside the EEA into Ireland, based on the current EU position, evidence of an approved vaccination or acceptable proof of recovery removes the requirement for any quarantine or on arrival testing. In the absence of that proof, evidence of a negative RT-PCR test, self-quarantine and further testing will be required. Only designated states and countries where the emergency brake system is applied will go into mandatory hotel quarantine.