Do I need a visa to travel to Ireland?

31.03.2024 - 07:47 / lonelyplanet.com

Visiting Ireland is a cinch if you’re visiting from a country that requires no visa or with whom Ireland has a visa waiver agreement. If you are visiting from a country with a visa requirement, then things can get a little more complicated, but here’s what you need to know to get you started.

Ireland is a small island, but it is home to two jurisdictions – which means two sets of immigration laws. Let us talk you through how it works.

If you are from the EEA (the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) or Switzerland, you don’t need a visa to visit or work in the Republic of Ireland which is part of the EU.

British citizens in Ireland and Irish citizens in the UK (including Northern Ireland) hold a unique status under each country's national law courtesy of the long-standing Common Travel Area (CTA) agreement, which allows them to travel and work freely within the CTA. 

US citizens can visit Ireland for tourism or business without a visa for stays of up to 90 days. Your passport must be valid for the duration of their stay, but there is no requirement for it to be valid for any longer than that. For longer stays or to work or study, Americans will need to apply for a visa, which they can do through the official website of the Irish Embassy in Washington, DC.

Ireland has a visa waiver agreement with 56 other countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. A complete list of the exempted countries is available on the Citizens Information website.

Citizens of all other countries require a short stay "C" visa if they want to visit Ireland for any reason including tourism, visiting family, getting married or even if they wish to transit through Ireland.

The application process is laid out in detail by the Irish Immigration Service, and must be completed before travelling to Ireland. Families travelling together need to fill out applications for each individual as there’s no family visa option.

Citizens of Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States may be able to apply for a Working Holiday Authorisation through the Irish embassy in your country. This allows you to come to Ireland to work for a certain period, but it’s only available to applicants aged between 18 and 30 (35 in some cases).

No matter where you are coming from you will have to register for an Irish Residence Permit as soon as possible after you arrive in Ireland if you intend to stay more than 90 days.

There are three kinds of short stay visas. A single entry visa is €60, while a multi-entry visa – where you wish to come in and out of the country on multiple occasions over the course of the visa validity period – costs €100. Transit visas are €25.

The fee covers