Short-stay visa processing to resume next week after 18-month suspension

Visitors from countries requiring short-stay visas to come to Ireland will be able to apply for the travel documents from next week, the Minister for Justice has announced.

The processing of short-stay applications had been halted in March 2020 except for in emergency cases. The move to lift restrictions from Monday will benefit travellers from all countries requiring a visa to enter Ireland – such as China, India, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Minister for Justice Heather Humphreys said the resumption is in line with the Government’s approach to the next phase of the pandemic.

As international travel once again becomes a feature, Ms Humphreys said the change will be “welcomed by many people who wish to travel to Ireland to visit, study or do business”.

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“We remain fully supportive of the current public health advice and all travellers arriving into Ireland must continue to comply fully with measures required by law including producing proof of vaccination, recovery from Covid-19 or a negative PCR test,” she said.

Travellers from designated states and countries where the European Union approved “emergency brake system” has been applied will need to go into mandatory hotel quarantine.

This currently applies to a number of countries in South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru, as well as to passengers from Ecuador who are not fully vaccinated.

The emergency brake allows Ireland “to adopt urgent and time-limited measures to react to the emergence of a variant” and effectively put a country on a red list.