Do I need a Visa for Dublin if I have a UK Residence Permit

[Rover8098]

Hi, I need to travel to Dublin for 1 day on business and was wondering if anyone knows whether I would need to apply for a visa? My citizenship requires an Irish visa, but I live in the UK and hold a UK Residence Permit. I have just spoken to the airline and they said that in order to travel, any photo ID (incl. UK Driving License) is acceptable - do you think I can get away with this? Obviously I'll take my passport for when I'm coming back to the UK from Dublin! Only thing is, my driving license shows my photo and address in the UK, but lists my country of birth - will they question whether I'm a British citizen or not?
All in all, I do not want to break any rules, but it seems pretty stupid that I have to wait for a week to get a visa for 1 day if there is a way round it! I need to travel urgently, otherwise I would have just applied for a visa.

[ppron747]

It's not clear what this has to do with Family Immigration, so I'm moving it to the "General" forum.

The subject has been discussed in the last few days - here

[SunBlue]

It looks like you need a visa. The page of the embassy says nothing about uk visa holders:

http://ireland.embassyhomepage.com/iris ... don_uk.htm

[Plaasjapie]

0000

[Rover8098]

Guys, not necessarily - for example, sometimes, you can enter a country on transit without a visa if you are moving on to a 3rd country. I have just found out that even though I'm an Indian Citizen, because I'm married to a British Citizen, I can enter the Czech Republic without having to obtain a visa before hand (I'll be issued with a single entry short-term visa the airport)- as long as I can provide evidence that I'm a family member of an EEA Citizen and the airline I'm flying with is aware of the regulation.

It's really annoying how because the UK has not joined the Schengen region, spouses of British citizens are treated differently to spouses of all other EU nationals - e.g. if my wife was French, then I could freely travel around the schengen region without having to get a visa everytime!

As for Ireland, it seems that if I truly wanted to go there without a visa (which I won't as it's not worth risking!), I could, as all the airlines require for travel between the UK and ROI is a valid photo ID, which could be my driving license - alternatively, I could go to Belfast and drive across to Dublin............

[JAJ]

It's really annoying how because the UK has not joined the Schengen region, spouses of British citizens are treated differently to spouses of all other EU nationals - e.g. if my wife was French, then I could freely travel around the schengen region without having to get a visa everytime!

Are you sure that the nationality of your spouse would make any difference to that. Now if you were living in France it would be different (unless you wanted to visit the UK).

[Christophe]

It's really annoying how because the UK has not joined the Schengen region, spouses of British citizens are treated differently to spouses of all other EU nationals - e.g. if my wife was French, then I could freely travel around the schengen region without having to get a visa everytime!

I think you'd still need a visa. If you were living in a Schengen area country and had a valid residence permit for that country, then you wouldn't need a visa to travel in the Schengen area. But I don't think that whether or not your spouse is the citizen of a Schengen country makes any difference.

[Dawie]

Guys, not necessarily - for example, sometimes, you can enter a country on transit without a visa if you are moving on to a 3rd country. I have just found out that even though I'm an Indian Citizen, because I'm married to a British Citizen, I can enter the Czech Republic without having to obtain a visa before hand (I'll be issued with a single entry short-term visa the airport)- as long as I can provide evidence that I'm a family member of an EEA Citizen and the airline I'm flying with is aware of the regulation.

It's really annoying how because the UK has not joined the Schengen region, spouses of British citizens are treated differently to spouses of all other EU nationals - e.g. if my wife was French, then I could freely travel around the schengen region without having to get a visa everytime!

As for Ireland, it seems that if I truly wanted to go there without a visa (which I won't as it's not worth risking!), I could, as all the airlines require for travel between the UK and ROI is a valid photo ID, which could be my driving license - alternatively, I could go to Belfast and drive across to Dublin............

If you bothered to read the fine print you will see that only British citizens born in the UK may use a photo driving license to enter the Republic of Ireland. The airlines might not notice that your UK driving license states your place of birth as somewhere other than the UK, but the immigration officials at Dublin International Airport certainly will and you will almost certainly be deported back to the UK if you try this.

Having travelled to Ireland many times from the UK, both from Northern Ireland (overland) and from the mainland (flying) it seems as if there is ALWAYS immigration control upon entering the Republic of Ireland from the UK flying in, but there is no immigration control whatsoever when you fly into the UK from the Republic of Ireland (which is strange, you would think the UK would be more paranoid about immigration). And I've never seen any immigration control at the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. There may have been control in the past during the troubles, but it seems to be non-existent now.

One thing I don't understand is why the Republic of Ireland takes so much trouble in enforcing immigration control on passengers arriving by plane from the UK when it's so easy to just fly to Belfast from, for example, London without a passport and take a train to Dublin without anyone so much as asking you your name, let alone asking to see a passport and a visa.

[Smit]

Guys, not necessarily - for example, sometimes, you can enter a country on transit without a visa if you are moving on to a 3rd country. I have just found out that even though I'm an Indian Citizen, because I'm married to a British Citizen, I can enter the Czech Republic without having to obtain a visa before hand (I'll be issued with a single entry short-term visa the airport)- as long as I can provide evidence that I'm a family member of an EEA Citizen and the airline I'm flying with is aware of the regulation.

Could you please provide a link to an official website backing this up? I was not previously aware of this information.

[jjustyy]

Guys, not necessarily - for example, sometimes, you can enter a country on transit without a visa if you are moving on to a 3rd country. I have just found out that even though I'm an Indian Citizen, because I'm married to a British Citizen, I can enter the Czech Republic without having to obtain a visa before hand (I'll be issued with a single entry short-term visa the airport)- as long as I can provide evidence that I'm a family member of an EEA Citizen and the airline I'm flying with is aware of the regulation.

Could you please provide a link to an official website backing this up? I was not previously aware of this information.

The Czech embassy seems to conflict with this information:

http://www.mzv.cz/wwwo/default.asp?id=3 ... tIDO=15414

Please note the following:

- Our visa section can only accept a limited number of applications per day on a first-come first-served basis. Please note that we do not arrange appointments. The Visa section is open Monday to Friday 9:00-11:00 a.m. (for submitting visa applications only).
- It takes about one week (maximum 30 days) to obtain a visa if you apply in person and about two weeks (maximum 30 days) if you apply by post.
- The Embassy is not responsible for information given by travel agencies or guide books.
- The Embassy cannot guarantee the issuance of any visa. The decision is final and irrevocable.
- No visa can be obtained at the airport or at the border.
- No vaccination certificates are required unless you are coming from an infected area.

There is even advice for spouses for the visa application form:

7 - Spouses of European Union Citizens. Proof of relationship is required: your spouse´s passport issued by any European Union country (original) plus one copy as well as the original and one copy of your marriage certificate. Marriage certificates that are not in English or Czech language require certified translation.

It just seems from the fees page that the visa will be free of charge for EU spouses who bring/send the correct evidence. Also note that Indian Citizens will have to apply in person.

Visa is also free for wife, husband and minor child of EU, EEA or Swiss citizen. (Fee page on the US Czech Embassy site)

This is assuming that something hasn't recently changed of course...

[sywahu]

I was in the same position 2 years ago and the company had to apply for a business visit visa. It was clear that non-EU nationals needed a visa regardless of their residential status i.e. indefinite or otherwise.

[Rover8098]

Firstly, note for Dawie - I fully agree with you about your point of Ireland's emphasis on immigration at the airport but none on the land border - and also, their embassy in London take a minimum of 5 days to issue visas and don't offer a fast track service!! I also take your comment about driving licenses showing the country of birth - that is exactly why I didn't take the risk of flying to Dublin without the visa - it really isn't worth the hassle!

As for the Czech issue - believe me, if you are a spouse of an EU national, you can enter the Czech Republic by getting a single entry, short-term visa. I have had this information confirmed by the Czech Embassy in London themselves, however they suggested that I check with the airline that I'm flying with is aware of the regulation, so they don't deny me boarding. I'm due to fly in to Prague from Budapest next week on Czech Airlines, so I contacted the Czech airlines desk at Budapest airport and asked them whether they would allow me to fly from Budapest to Prague without having a visa (as I can get one on arrival) -the airline checked with their head office and confirmed that I will be allowed to board. As for getting the visa at Prague airport, I have been advised that I should take my spouse's British passport and our marriage certificate as proof that I am a family member of an EU national. I'd be more than happy to report back next week once I've completed my trip.
As for a website backing up this information, go to www.virgin-atlantic.com, then click on the 'where in the world' section and then the 'health and visa information' section. Enter your nationality as 'indian' and your country of residence (UK) and select 'Czech Republic' as your destination - the text then reads:

National INDIA (IN)
Residence UNITED KINGDOM (GREAT BRITAIN) (GB)
Embarkation UNITED KINGDOM (GREAT BRITAIN) (GB)
Destination CZECH REPUBLIC (CZ)


CZECH REPUBLIC (CZ)



Passport (must be valid for at least 90 days beyond expiry
date of the visa) required.

Visa (must be obtained from embassy of Czech Rep. in country
of residence) required.
If being family member of an E.U. national (see TIRGL/EEC )
and holding proof thereof (e.g. marriage certificate) a short-

term visa can be issued on arrival free of charge by the
Authority of Aliens and Border Police.

However, if passenger is:
- in transit through Czech Rep.; and
- continuing their journey (incl. other modes of transport)

to a third country; and
- holding either a valid Schengen type B, C, or D visa or
visa for Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta,
Poland, Slovak Rep. or Slovenia:
visa not required for a max. transit period of 5 days.

Note their new transit policy that came in to effect on the1st September 2006.

[Rover8098]

sorry, just in case anyone is wondering why the hell i'm not doing things the simple way and just applying for a czech visa before i travel, that's because (a) I have to go to the embassy myself, which unfortunately due to my workload I can't afford to do (b) they take a min of 1 wk to process the visa -which once again, given I have a meeting in Prague next wednesday, which I only found out about late last week, and (c) my passport has/is with the Polish and Hungarian embassies, means that I do not have a week for the czech visa to be processed! and finally, I'm out of the UK from this Thursday, returning next week.....
Also got an email from the Czech embassy confirming that in future, if i apply in person, they can issue me a 1 year multiple entry visa. Another piece of info that may be useful is that because the czech embassy take a min of 1 wk to issue visas (max 30 days), once you've submitted your application, they take copies and give you your passport back, and stamp your passport with the visa once the application has been processed - so if you needed your passport whilst the embassy was processing your visa, then you can. Think this is excellent and more embassies should follow this example.