General advice is to avoid non-essential travel, other than to any countries on the ‘Green List’ where the advice is to take normal precautions.

In accordance with Government policy, which is based on official public health advice, the Department of Foreign Affairs continues to advise against non-essential travel overseas (including to Great Britain but not to Northern Ireland), other than to any countries on the ‘green list’ where the ‘normal precautions’ security status rating will apply. The request to restrict movements does not apply to individuals arriving into Ireland from any countries on the ‘green list.’

The Green List was reviewed again on the basis of the ECDC data on Thursday 15 October.  As no EU / EEA countries were below the required 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases, it remains the case that there are no countries on the Green List. The new EU Recommendation on coordinating travel within the EU / EEA was adopted at the General Affairs Council in Brussels on 13 October. Implementation of this is for consideration by Government next week.

The situation in relation to COVID-19 continues to evolve quickly. Citizens who are considering travel to particular locations are advised to monitor news and information from the public authorities in their destination.

For the latest information, please see http://DFA.ie and @dfatravelwise

Passport Service 

The Passport Service is open for applications but we have paused processing as Ireland is at Level 5 of the National Framework for Living with COVID-19. There will be an update in 6 weeks.   

To apply via Passport Online click here https://passportonline.dfa.ie/Apply/Passport

Foreign Birth Registrations

The processing of Foreign Birth Registrations will now pause until Dublin returns to Level 3 on the National Framework for Living with COVID-19.

Applications that have been sent to the FBR team have been securely held and will now be processed in strict date order. At present, due to the complex nature of the Foreign Birth Registration it takes between 12 to 18 months to process a completed Foreign Birth Registration application.

Working Holiday Authorisation 

Please note that we are not currently processing Working Holiday Authorisations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have temporarily ceased accepting new applications under the Working Holiday Authorisation scheme.

We intend to resume accepting applications as soon as circumstances allow. Keep an eye on our website to see when WHA services resume.

Visas

We have started a limited resumption of visa services. During this initial resumption phase, we will only be accepting Long Stay "D" visa applications, including Study, as well as those identified under our current criteria as Emergency/Priority visas. While we are again accepting long stay visa applications for processing, the actual issuance of non Emergency/Priority visas remain dependent on Public Health Advice, and has not yet begun. It remains the position that we are not accepting any short stay visa applications, except for cases that fall under the Emergency/Priority criteria. For further information please see website of the Immigration Service Delivery 

Passport Online

The Passport Service is open for applications but we have paused processing as Ireland is at Level 5 of the National Framework for Living with COVID-19. There will be an update in 6 weeks.   

Passport Online is open to all applicants, including children, renewing their passports and those applying for their first passport who are resident in Ireland, UK, EU, EEA and Switzerland. These will be the first applications processed when we resume processing passports. If you are resident in a country where Passport Online is not available, please contact your local Irish Embassy or Consulate.

To apply via Passport Online click here https://passportonline.dfa.ie/Apply/Passport

Foreign Birth Registrations

The processing of Foreign Birth Registrations will now pause until Dublin returns to Level 3 on the National Framework for Living with COVID-19.

Applications that have been sent to the FBR team have been securely held and will now be processed in strict date order. At present, due to the complex nature of the Foreign Birth Registration it takes between 12 to 18 months to process a completed Foreign Birth Registration application.

Contact us

For the most up to date travel advice please check: dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice. If you are abroad, you should contact your local Irish Embassy or Consulate. They can advise you about your options for travel.

International Postal restrictions

There are some international restrictions due to COVID 19. Information on An Post’s international postal services are available here: https://www.anpost.com/Covid-19

Where there is no An Post International service available, we are working to deliver Passport Online through our network of Embassies and Consulates. If you have pre-paid for delivery (€15), there will be no further charge.