********* UPDATE: 26 February 2021 ***********

The phone lines at the Consulate are currently down. Our service provider is working to resolve the problem. In the meantime, we can still be contacted through our contact form (link below) or by email to NewYorkConGen@dfa.ie This email is monitored at regular intervals, including outside of office hours. We apologise for this inconvenience. 

The Consulate is operating with revised procedures due to the need to social distance. We would ask all our customers to conduct their business with us by phone, email or mail only for the moment in the interests of everyone's safety. Should you have an emergency situation and feel that you need to come into the Consulate in person, please contact us and our staff will advise if you do need to come in and assist with an appointment. Please do not come to the Consulate without contacting us first: the building has strict controls over ingress and you will not be admitted without a pre-arranged appointment.

During this period the quickest way to contact us is via the Contact Us form on our website. If you are in need of emergency assistance please contact the Consulate by calling +1 212 230 2480 and leaving a message, rather than through this form. 

If leaving a message, please remember to leave a number on which you can be contacted (which can accept calls). The answering machine is monitored regularly and a staff member will contact you as soon as possible.  The mailbox/Contact Us form is monitored during normal working hours only.  

Please stay safe and reach out to us if you need us.  For updates check twitter/facebook @IrelandinNY 

The notice below contains the following sections:

1. Passport Services
2. Visa Services
3. Travel into Ireland
4. Local Information/travel into the US

PASSPORTS

Given the suspension of passport processing in Ireland currently under Level 5 of the COVID response the Consulate cannot currently provide an estimated time for passport processing. All paper applications submitted to us with documentation are held securely at our offices but passports will not be produced until restrictions are moved to Level 3. We will update this website when there are changes made to the level of restrictions.

In line with the Irish Government's announcment regarding a move to Level 5 restrictions from 24 December 2020, passport processing will be impacted. During this period 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 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.

Please also note that, for paper applications submitted through the Consulate, the tracking system will show 'dispatched' when the passport is ready to leave the Passport Office in Ireland. Please allow at least three weeks from that date for the passport to arrive at the Consulate and then be sent on to you by FedEx, due to current restrictions at home which will result in delays in passports being sent on to us. 

Please note that we at the Consulate accept paper passport applications only for 1st time applicants and those who cannot renew their passports online because their Irish passport is over 5 years expired. Applications should be submitted by registered mail only at this time.  It is not necessary to come to the Consulate for this purpose.

Please note that all adult and children's passports can now be renewed online at https://www.dfa.ie/passportonline/ as long as it is under 5 years since the previous Irish passport expired.  If you can renew online (that is to say, you already hold an Irish passport which expired less than five years ago) you now must renew online. The passport office will no longer process paper applications from those who are eligible to apply for their passport online and any paper applications under this category will be returned to the sender. 

Please take note of the barcode number on the top of your application form before submitting it so you can track your passport at www.passporttracking.dfa.ie.  The barcode tracking number will only become live once certain checks are completed in Ireland so please be patient if you don't see your application appearing in the initial weeks after submitting it. 

If you wish to apply for an Irish passport for the first time, please check your entitlements. If your connection to Ireland is through a grandparent born in Ireland (i.e. if your parent was not born in Ireland), you must first be entered on the Register of Foreign Births and have received your Foreign Birth Registration certificate.  This is an online application process centralised in Dublin.  

The processing of Foreign Birth Registrations is currently paused in line with the move to Level 5 of the National Framework for Living with COVID-19 from 24 December 2020. If you have submitted supporting documentation to the FBR hub, it will be held securely until it reopens. If you have not submitted supporting documents, please wait until Ireland has returned to level 3 or lower on the National Framework for Living with COVID-19.

Details are available here: https://www.dfa.ie/about-us/contact-us/contact-foreign-birth-registration-citizenship/.

The Consulate has no involvement in the FBR process and thus is not in a position to advise on individual queries. 

VISAS

The strong advice is that everyone, regardless of their nationality, visa/preclearance status, or the origin of travel, who cannot provide proof of an essential purpose to travel to or within Ireland, should not travel to Ireland.

The acceptance of all new visa/preclearance applications globally, with the exception of certain emergency cases, is suspended as of 29^th of January 2021. You will find further updates at the website of the Immigration Service Delivery website at http://inis.gov.ie/ Priority/Emergency cases as defined on the Immigration Service Delivery website will still be processed. However, please check these criteria carefully and contact us to ensure you fall under this category before sending in any documents. 

We intend to resume accepting applications as soon as safety concerns abate.

US citizens do not require a visa for study in Ireland.  However, you must register with the immigration authorities on arrival.  If your university is delivering your course of study online only for the next semester, you should not travel to Ireland at this time.

The processing of Working Holiday Authorisations is also suspended until further notice.  

On 26 January the Government announced the introduction of additional, short-term restrictions. These will include mandatory quarantine measures applying to all international arrivals and the suspension of visa-free travel to Ireland (with limited exemptions) for nationals of South Africa and all countries in South America. Nationals of these countries will require to be in possession of an entry visa or transit visa, as appropriate, for travel to Ireland regardless of where they reside or the purpose of their travel to Ireland. Updated information on these measures will be made available on the gov.ie website, the website of the Irish Immigration and Naturalisation Service, and on this Department’s country specific travel pages.

 

For more information, please refer to the Visas section of our website.

TRAVEL INTO IRELAND

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

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 72 hours of 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. 

• You should be aware that the Irish Government continues to recommend against any non-essential travel to Ireland at present.  The US government also advises against most non-essential international travel currently, including to Ireland. 

• You must home quarantine 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.
• If you do not fulfil the legal requirement for mandatory quarantine you are committing an offence, and can be fined up to €2,500 or get a prison sentence of up to 6 months, or both.
• You may only leave your place of residence during the quarantine period for unavoidable reasons of an emergency nature to protect a person’s health or welfare, or to leave the State.

• 20 countries have been designated as “Category 2 Countries” by the Department of Health:  Angola, Austria, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of South Africa, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Zambia and Zimbabwe. All passengers arriving into Ireland from/whose journies originated in these countries must now complete a full mandatory 14-day period of self-quarantine if they have been in any of these states in the previous 14 days, even if they receive a negative RT-PCR test result after arriving in the State.

• For passengers from all other countries, the quarantine period can finish earlier, if the passenger obtains a negative result of a RT-PCR test taken no less than 5 days after arrival in the State.
• 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 must retain the written confirmation of your test result for at least 14 days.
• There are some- extremely limited-  exemptions from the requirement to complete mandatory quarantine. These can be viewed here. 
•  You should book or make changes to your existing bookings directly with your airline.  You should check regularly with your airline’s website for status updates and for any additional information they may require before you can board. 
• 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. For life-threatening emergencies, call 999 or 112.

• 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 https://www.cdc.gov and the website of your state 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 website
  • Cork Airport website

•  For the latest up-to-date information on what to do if you are travelling to Ireland at this time, please see the Irish Government website https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/75d92-covid-19-travel-advice/

• 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.

CORONAVIRUS IN THE US AND TRAVEL TO THE US

For our latest travel advice on the United States please see here. You can also follow us on Twitter for the latest info (@IrelandinNY)

Irish citizens can access localised up-to-date information for the New York Consular Area through the authorities listed below:

Connecticut twitter; Delaware twitter; New Jersey twitter; New York City twitter; New York State twitter; Pennsylvania twitter; West Virginia twitter

Please refer to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) website for further updates, including on travel restrictions to the US for those travelling from Ireland.

Follow medical advice  to protect yourself from COVID-19 and to prevent the spread of the virus. Be alert to common signs of infection: respiratory problems, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Seek medical advice if you experience these symptoms.

 Health-related info is also available here and here. 

U.S. Travel Restrictions

As a result of the COVID- 19 outbreak the US has implemented special entry restrictions for their territory. 

As detailed in President Biden's Proclamation of 21 January 2021 entry into the US is currently restricted for those travelling from Ireland, the UK, the Schengen Area, Brazil and South Africa. Non-US nationals, including Irish nationals, who have visited or resided in Ireland or the other countries set out in the proclamation, for any period in the 14 days prior to their travel to the US, will be denied entry, unless they are legal permanent residents of the US (i.e. green card holders), or are the spouse or child of a US national or permanent resident, or the sibling of same providing both are under 21 years of age, or fall under one of the other categories as set out in the proclamation. For more information please contact your nearest US Embassy or Consulate: the Embassy in Dublin has a travel FAQ here. 

Non-US nationals with legal permanent residence in the US (i.e. Green Card holders) and their immediate family, as well as immediate family (spouse and children) of US nationals are not restricted from entering the US. However, if travelling from a restricted country they will now be required to enter the country through one of thirteen designated airports and will undergo additional screening on arrival. Further information can be found here.

The US CDC has also issued an Order effective January 26, 2021 which requires all air passengers arriving to the US from a foreign country to get tested for COVID-19 infection no more than 3 days before their flight departs and to provide proof of the negative result or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding the flight. For more information on this testing requirement, see the CDC's Frequently Asked Questions.

There are a number of internal travel restrictions put in place within the US in order to prevent the spread of the virus. If travelling within the US, you should check the relevant website (see above) of the state you are travelling to, as well as that of the CDC, in order to ensure you comply with quarantine or other requirements.