Notice

Last Updated 12 January at 20:30

While the Consulate General of Ireland in Atlanta remains closed to the public due to COVID-19, we are fully operational at this time. During this period, the quickest way to contact us is by email to atlantacg@dfa.ie.

If you are an Irish citizen in need of emergency assistance, please call us on +1 404 554 4980 and leave a message with your name, the nature of the emergency and your contact information. A member of the team will make contact.

Latest Official Travel Advice

The Government of Ireland continues to recommend against all non-essential international travel, including to the United States.

For up-to-date information on what to do if you are travelling to Ireland at this time, please see the Irish Government website.

What to do on entering Ireland from abroad -

As of Saturday, 16 January, passengers arriving into Ireland from all countries, including the US, are required to show a negative result of a pre-departure PCR COVID-19 test taken within the 72 hours prior to arrival in the State. Checks will be made by the Border Management Unit at Dublin Airport and by An Garda Síochána at other points of entry. Children aged six and under are exempt from this requirement.

Ireland has implemented the EU ‘Traffic Light System’ whereby restrictions are based on the location of the passenger during the 14 days prior to arrival. In general, you are requested to restrict your movements for 14 days if you arrive into Ireland from another country. This applies to all travellers entering the State, including Irish citizens coming home and people with no symptoms. Restricting your movements means avoiding contact with other people and social situations as much as possible. Ireland’s Health Service Executive has provided guidance on how to restrict movements on their website.

Persons who feel unwell or experience symptoms of COVID-19 while in Ireland should self-isolate and contact their General Practitioner or HSE Live on 1850 24 1850 immediately as per the Health Service Executive guidance.

The request to restrict movements for 14 days may not apply to passengers entering Ireland from red regions, (which currently includes the United States), following receipt of a negative/not-detected result from a Covid-19 PCR test taken a minimum of five days after arrival in Ireland. Test results can take a few days; passengers are requested to continue to restrict their movements until they have the negative result. The PCR COVID-19 test is currently the only test type considered acceptable by public health authorities in Ireland in relation to international travel. Testing provision under Ireland’s framework for international travel will not be provided through the public health system, but will be met by the private commercial sector testing supply and paid for by passengers.

You will need to check any re-entry requirements for the United States. You may be required to obtain a test before returning to the United States. Please check the CDC website and the website of your states health department for the most up-to-date requirements.

The links below on Cork and Dublin airports websites give details of the current companies providing PCR tests.
- Dublin Airport
- Cork Airport

The general request to restrict movements does not apply to persons travelling for an essential need or function as defined by Paragraph 19 of the EU Council Recommendation on Travel for an Essential Purpose. It is the responsibility of each individual to determine if their circumstances fall into one of the categories in Paragraph 19 of the EU Council Recommendation on travel for an essential need or function.

To ensure that this is being observed, all passengers arriving to Ireland from overseas are obliged to complete a mandatory Public Health Passenger Locator Form and to submit it to the relevant authority at their port of entry. Exemptions are in place for providers of essential supply chain services such as hauliers, pilots and maritime staff. Check the Irish Government Advice Page for full information on these requirements.

Further advice for people who have recently returned from abroad is available from the HSE. Please heed this restriction carefully in order to protect yourself and others. Please also download the new tracker app which will help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ireland.

Passports

In line with the Irish Government's announcment regarding a move to Level 5 restrictions from 24 December, passport processing hass been impacted. Currently online passport applications can be submitted, but will only be processed when restrictions are moved to Level 4.

Paper passport applications can continue to be sent to the relevant Consulate for initial processing and checks, however these application will be queued by the Passport Office in Ireland for further processing once restrictions are moved to Level 3.

Your documents will be held securely at the Consulate until this time. Upon return to Level 3 or lower, applications will be dealt with in the order they were received. Please note that paper applications submitted to the Consulate will not appear in the Passport Office's tracking system until they are picked up for processing once restrictions are moved to Level 3.

If you require a passport application form or further information, please contact us. As the Consulate in Atlanta does not process passport applications, please check the websites of the relevant Irish Consulate for updates and before submitting any paper application (New York for passport applications submitted from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida; Chicago for passport applications submitted from Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee).

Foreign Birth Registrations

The processing of Foreign Birth Registrations or FBRs (through which Irish citizenship can be claimed by persons with a grandparent born on the island of Ireland) is currently suspended due to Level 5 restrictions under Ireland’s National Framework on Living with COVID-19.

When processing operations resume, due to the complex nature of FBR it will take between 12 to 18 months to process a completed FBR application.

Visas

You do not need an entry visa for Ireland if you are a passport holder of the United States.

Please note that our Embassies and Consulates have now resumed accepting long-stay 'D' visa applications, including study visa applications.

Applications for short-stay 'C' visas are not being accepted at this time due to COVID-19. Embassies and Consulates can also issue visas for certain types of priority/emergency cases.

Information on visa services during COVID-19, including the criteria for Emergency/Priority visas, can be found here.