Visa policy of Ireland
Ireland also operates the Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man which specifies open borders between the countries and territories.
Established in 1923, it permits British and Irish citizens freedom of movement around the Common Travel Area and to cross its borders with minimal or no identity documents.
It grants visa-free entry to all Schengen Annex II nationalities, except for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Dominica, Georgia, Honduras, Kosovo, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Palau, Peru, Serbia, Timor-Leste, and Venezuela.
Ireland also grants visa-free entry to several additional countries – Belize, Eswatini, Fiji, Guyana, Lesotho, Maldives, and Nauru.
[4] The 1962 Aliens Amendment Order exempted citizens of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, West Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States from visas for three months.
It also gave special provisions to citizens of the British Commonwealth,[a] whereby they were exempted by the Aliens Order of 1946, although they might be refused leave to land unless they complied with certain conditions.
In 1975, Ireland published its first list of visa-exempt nationalities and also removed the special provisions from Commonwealth citizens under Irish law.
On 8 October 1996, Irish transit visa requirements were extended and included the countries currently listed as of January 2018, with the addition of Nigeria, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Zaire.
[8][9][10] Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nigeria and Pakistan (1 January 1988); Turkey (19 November 1989); Uganda (12 August 1993); Bolivia (later restored), Colombia, Peru and Tunisia (1 April 1990) were all removed, as were Gambia (June 2001), Jamaica (18 December 2003), Mauritius (1 January 2010), Venezuela (29 April 2014) and Malawi (12 November 2015).
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, visa-free travel from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guyana, Paraguay, South Africa and Uruguay was suspended from 28 January to 16 June 2021,[11][12] and visa-free travel from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa was suspended from 27 November to 22 December 2021.
Switzerland, which is a member of EFTA but not of the EEA, is not bound by the Directive but rather has a separate bilateral agreement on the free movement with the EU.
If EU, EEA and Swiss nationals are unable to present a valid passport or national identity card at the border, they must nonetheless be afforded every reasonable opportunity to obtain the necessary documents or have them brought to them within a reasonable period of time or corroborate or prove by other means that he/she is covered by the right of free movement.
[78] Expulsion on public health grounds must relate to diseases with "epidemic potential" which have occurred less than 3 months from the person's the date of arrival in the Member State where he/she seeks entry.
[81] Of the 56 countries and territories outside the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland whose citizens are entitled to exercise free movement rights in Ireland, the following offer full reciprocal treatment to Irish citizens (i.e. visa-free access of at least 3 months): Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Lesotho, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Ukraine, and the Vatican City.
2 Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Russia and the partially recognised republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia each span the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia.
