Advice for Travel

Detailed information for travel to Ireland is below.  For travel to Scotland from within the Common Travel Area, please visit the Scottish Government’s website at: Coronavirus (COVID-19): travel and transport - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) where there is also a link for travel to Scotland from outside the Common Travel Area.

 

Travelling to Ireland

If you are travelling to Ireland from overseas you must fill out a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) before departure.

With effect from Thursday 6 January 2022, passengers to Ireland with:

• an accepted proof of vaccination, or
• proof of recovery from COVID-19 in the prior 6 months

do not have to show an additional pre-departure COVID-19 test result.

Passengers without proof of vaccination, or proof of recovery from COVID-19 in the prior 6 months, must show evidence of a negative ('not detected') RT-PCR test result taken within 72 hours prior to arriving in Ireland.

From 6 January, only RT-PCR test results are accepted for passengers to Ireland.

In situations where a person is unable to present evidence of a negative ('not detected') RT-PCR test prior to travel due to continuing to test persistently positive after infection - a positive RT-PCR result from a test taken 11 or more days prior to the date on which the person arrives in the State and no more than 180 days prior to the date on which the person arrives, will be accepted.

It is an offence to travel to Ireland from overseas without a pre-departure test result unless exempt. A passenger who travels without a test result or an exemption is required to take a RT-PCR test within 72 hours following arrival.

Any individual that develops COVID-19 symptoms while in Ireland should follow the HSE guidance in relation to isolation and undertaking antigen or RT-PCR testing as appropriate.

Passenger Locator Form

Passengers must have completed a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) prior to departure. The form will indicate which form of proof you are travelling with (proof of vaccination; proof of recovery; or RT-PCR COVID-19 test result).

Passengers must also carry the relevant medical document. The travel carrier will check your PLF receipt and also your RT-PCR test result, where required, prior to departure to Ireland and you may be asked to present these documents on arrival to Ireland. Please retain your proof of vaccination, recovery or RT-PCR test result for 14 days after arrival.

Proof of vaccination

A non-Digital COVID Certificate proof of vaccination means a record or evidence in written or electronic form in English or Irish or an official translation into Irish or English which contains the following:

• confirmation that the person to whom the record or evidence refers is a vaccinated person
• the date or dates on which the person was vaccinated
• the body in the state concerned implementing the vaccination programme (howsoever described) on behalf of the state that administered or caused to be administered the vaccination to the person concerned; or the body in the state concerned that has been authorised to issue such record or other evidence to the person concerned

The HSE Vaccination Card is an example of acceptable non-Digital COVID Certificate proof of vaccination.

Approved vaccines

For the purposes of travel, passengers are considered vaccinated if they have been vaccinated with a product listed below after the recommended number of days after the final dose, see table below.

A full course of any one of the following vaccines:	Regarded as vaccinated after:
2 doses of Pfizer-BioNtech Vaccine: BNT162b2 (Comirnaty®)	7 days
2 doses of Moderna Vaccine: CX-024414 (Moderna®)	14 days
2 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine: ChAdOx1-SARS-COV-2 (Vaxzevria® or Covishield)	15 days
1 dose of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Vaccine: Ad26.COV2-S [recombinant] (Janssen®)	14 days
2 doses of Coronavac (Sinovac)	14 days
2 doses of Sinopharm BIBP	14 days
2 doses of Covaxin	14 days
A heterologous (mixed) dose of any of the above vaccines	Apply the information above as it applies to the second dose
A single dose of any of the above vaccines administered within 180 days of a positive RT-PCR test result. The traveller must hold proof of the positive test and the vaccine dose	Apply the information above as it applies to the administered vaccine

Proof of recovery - recovery certificates

A non-Digital COVID Certificate ‘proof of recovery’ means a record or evidence in written or electronic form in English or Irish or an official translation into Irish or English which contains the following:

• name
• date of birth
• disease from which holder has recovered
• date of holder’s first positive NAAT test result
• Member State or third country in which test was carried out
• certificate issuer
• dates the certificate is valid from and valid until (not more than 180 days after the date of first positive NAAT test result)

Proof of vaccination, recovery or negative test

Ireland is part of the EU Digital COVID Certificate for travel originating within the EU/EEA. The Digital COVID Certificate will make it easier to travel to and from these countries and will be accepted as proof of vaccination, recovery or negative test.

Exemptions from testing requirements

• people who are travelling in the course of their duties and are an international transport worker in possession of an annex 3 certificate, the driver of a heavy goods vehicle or are aviation crew or maritime crew
• patients travelling to Ireland for urgent medical reasons, and that reason is certified by a registered medical practitioner or person with equivalent qualifications outside the State
• children aged 11 and under
• passengers whose journey originated in Northern Ireland and have not been overseas in the 14-day prior to arrival
• a member of the Gardaí or Defence Forces personnel travelling to the State in the course of performing his or her duties
• a person who travels to the State pursuant to an arrest warrant, extradition proceedings or other mandatory legal obligation
• travel to perform the function of or provide services to an office holder or elected representative, where such travel to Ireland is required to continue providing such services or performing such functions

If a citizen has a genuine humanitarian emergency requiring urgent travel, and might not be able to obtain the result of a pre-departure RT-PCR test in time, they should contact the nearest embassy or consulate immediately for advice and consular assistance before commencing their journey.

Travelling to Ireland from all overseas countries

There is no home quarantine requirement for passengers arriving to Ireland from overseas.

Arriving from Northern Ireland

Travellers whose journey originated in Northern Ireland and have not been overseas in the past 14 days are not obliged to complete a Passenger Locator Form or provide proof of vaccination, recovery or test results upon arrival into Ireland.

Restrictions do apply to travellers who have been overseas in the past 14 days and who transit to Ireland via Northern Ireland. These travellers are subject to the requirements based on their travel history, and according to their health status.

Passengers transiting from overseas to Ireland via Northern Ireland also need to comply with UK requirements. This includes completing a UK Passenger Locator Form. Transiting passengers can provide an address in Ireland when completing this form. See further information on UK requirements for transiting passengers.

Scheduled states

Passengers from scheduled States are required to present a negative pre-departure COVID-19 test prior to arrival in Ireland and to complete post arrival testing and home quarantine.

There are currently no scheduled States.

 

Consulate Services

The Consulate General of Ireland will be operating on an appointment only basis until further notice. If you wish to make an appointment, please call 0131 226 7711 or email EdinburghConGen@dfa.ie

Brexit

The UK’s Brexit transition period ended at 11pm on 31 December 2020. Information on Brexit is available from the Embassy of Ireland here.

Passports

For information on Passports please click here.

Visas

For information on visas please visit https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/great-britain/our-services/visas/ or email visamail@justice.ie and put London Visa Office in the subject bar. 

Emergencies

Emergency consular assistance will continue to be provided. Please call 0131 226 7711. 

If you are calling outside of office hours, you will be prompted to leave a message. After the tone, record your message stating your name, a brief description of the situation and a contact number. The Duty Officer will call you back. 

Please note our Twitter and Facebook accounts are both @IrlScotland