COVID-19 Visa Arrangements
** To avoid any difficulties, applicants are strongly advised to please read the Irish Government’s Covid-19 travel advice at this link before planning their journey to Ireland. This advice is updated regularly and changes can be made at very short notice. ***
As of 01 June 2021, the Irish Visa Office can confirm that we are accepting ALL long stay visa and preclearance applications, including all study applications, effective immediately.
We can also confirm that, as per the web notice of 21 May last, we have added the following categories to the list of Emergency/Priority cases and will resume processing of these categories immediately:
- Long-stay Join Family Members including:
- All Long-Stay (D) Join Family visa applications (including third country national family members of Irish nationals)
- Preclearance applications for: De Facto Partner of an Irish National; De Facto Partner of a Critical Skills Employment Permit Holder, or of a non EEA Researcher on a Hosting Agreement and Non EEA Family members looking to join a UK National in Ireland.
- People travelling for employment purposes who have been granted an employment permit by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment. This includes Atypical Permission.
- Persons exercising free movement under the EU Directive. (NOTE - persons in this category should apply for a short-stay (C) visa which will permit you to enter and reside in the State for up to 3 months. In the event that you wish to remain in the State for more than 3 months as a family member of an EU citizen exercising their free movement rights, you must apply (when in the State) for a Residence Card of a family member of a Union citizen).
English Language Applications (Long Stay).
We are now accepting English Language Study applications. However, as this category is not included in the Emergency/Priority list at this time we are unable to issue a visa to successful applicants until permission to do so is granted by the Irish authorities. This position is being reviewed on a daily basis and our office will ensure that all successful applicants are kept fully updated as to when their visa can be printed.
Refusals of an English Language Study application will continue to be issued without any delay.
In addition to the above, the Emergency/Priority cases that will continue to be accepted/processed by the Irish Visa Office include the following:
- Patients travelling for imperative medical reasons;
- Transport workers or transport service providers, including drivers of freight vehicles carrying goods for use in the territory as well as those merely transiting;
- Pupils, students and trainees who travel abroad on a daily basis;
- Persons travelling for imperative family* or business reasons;
- Diplomats, staff of international organizations and people invited by international organizations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organizations, military personnel and police officers, and humanitarian aid workers and civil protection personnel in the exercise of their functions;
- Passengers in transit;
- Seafarers;
- Journalists, when performing their duties.
It remains the position that we are not accepting any short stay visa applications, except for cases that fall under the Emergency/Priority criteria set out above.The suspension of short-stay applications will continue to be reviewed in consultation with the relevant authorities in the coming weeks.
* Please note that applicants seeking to travel for imperative family reasons are assessed on an individual basis and are largely confined to emergency cases that may arise in a family situation. This does not include the following: missing a loved one; wanting to attend a birth; or wanting to attend a wedding or a milestone birthday. Please note that this list of examples is not exhaustive and whether your application meets the criteria or not is determined by examining the circumstances and supporting documentation of each case on an individual basis.
If you believe your application falls under one of these Emergency/Priority categories, please contact irishvisabeijing@dfanet.ie so that we can guide you through the application process and advise you how best to submit your documentation.
Important: What you must do before you arrive into Ireland from abroad.
Please note that all passengers arriving into Ireland from designated states after 4am on the morning of Friday 26 March 2021 are now required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility, and to pre-pay for their stay. Further information can be found here.
All passengers arriving into Ireland must:
- Complete a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form- http://www.gov.ie/locatorform/
- Provide evidence that you have a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours before you arrive into Ireland, or have evidence that you are exempt from this legal requirement - https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/b4020-travelling-to-ireland-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/#requirement-for-a-pre-departure-covid-19-rt-pcr-test
- If you are travelling from or via a designated state, then you must also pre-book and pre-pay for a place in a designated facility for mandatory hotel quarantine
- It is an offence not to comply with the above mentioned requirements, and it is punishable by a fine not exceeding €2,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both - gov.ie - COVID-19 Travel Advice (www.gov.ie)
Further information
A 'Frequently Asked Questions' (FAQ) document about the impact of COVID-19 on Immigration and International Protection in Ireland has also been published and can be found here.
For the most up to date information on the coronavirus in Ireland, please visit https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/75d92-covid-19-travel-advice/
For our customers based in China, please visit https://www.vfsglobal.cn/ireland/china/ for further updates.
For our customers based in Mongolia, please visit: https://www.vfsglobal.com/ireland/mongolia/ for further updates.