TRAVEL TO IRELAND

Zambia and Namibia have been designated  as “Category 2 Countries” by the Department of Health.  Mandatory Hotel Quarantine now applies to all travellers arriving into Ireland from Category 2 countries after 4am on the morning of Friday, 26 March.  This applies to all travellers coming from designated States, including those who have transited through a port or airport in a designated State, even if they stay airside or portside, in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Ireland, regardless of nationality.  These travellers are now required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility, and to pre-pay for their stay.  The booking portal is now live.   Details for travellers are listed on the website:- https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a6975-mandatory-hotel-quarantine/

You must also enter mandatory hotel quarantine if, regardless of which country you arrive from (designated and non-designated states), you do not 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.

Passengers will be required to complete 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantine at a designated facility, this could be reduced if a passenger receives a not-detected result of a COVID-19 test that is taken after ten days. It may also be extended if a passenger tests positive during their stay.

The aim of this measure is to protect the population when there is a high risk of importation of infection from COVID-19 and from challenges posed by new variants of concern.  The Category 2 list will be revised every two weeks, and the Mandatory Hotel Quarantine provision will remain in place for as long as it is needed to protect public health. 

In addition, with effect from 29 January 2021, the Department of Justice has temporarily ceased accepting new visa/ preclearance applications globally.

Increasing travel restrictions and the measures introduced as part of the Irish Government’s efforts to interrupt the transmission of COVID-19 means that travel may not be possible and even if possible is not advisable unless absolutely essential. It is currently against the law for any person (regardless of nationality or passport) to travel within Ireland for non-essential purposes and people can be fined for doing so. Enforcement of this has been strongly increased over the last few days.

These measures are designed to support our public health restrictions on movement, including into and out of Ireland.

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 situation will continue to be reviewed in consultation with the relevant authorities in the coming weeks.

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

In the meantime, only certain emergency cases will be processed. Further information is available on the website of Immigration Service Delivery.

For emergency visa applications, please contact the Embassy directly so that we can guide you through the application process and advise you how to submit your documentation.

TRAVEL TO ZAMBIA

The Irish Government continues to strongly advise against all non-essential travel overseas. Countries around the world are implementing restrictions on entry, and these are changing frequently. Details of these measures are available on the travel section of the gov.ie website.

ALL new arrivals in Zambia (including returning residents) will be asked for proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test dated less than 72 hours prior to arrival. Children under five years of age are exempt and will not need to produce a negative COVID-19 test on arrival. Passengers may also be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and subject to a temperature check. 

There is no longer any requirement for visitors or returning residents to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival, as long as they are asymptomatic.

We continue to make updates to our online travel advice for over 200 countries and recommend that you follow us on Twitter.

We recommend that you treat information shared on social media with caution. For general please check the World Health Organisation website. For Zambia specific updates, please check with the Ministry of Health Facebook page.