Thai citizen visiting Ireland on a UK visa

[capin]

Hi All,

 

I have UK/Ireland dual citizenship and live in North Carolina with my Thai wife. We both have LPR (Green cards in the USA) and wife has a valid from May 8th UK short term visitor visa in her passport.

 

We are going to the UK mid may to visit my family and wife want to see London, It will be her first visit to Europe. There is also a family function in Ireland midway through our trip and we have flights booked LHR-DUB-LHR. We plan to use her UK visitor visa to enter Ireland under the short stay visa waiver program. Our itinerary is ATL-LHR-DUB-LHR-ATL and She can answer yes to these 3 questions -

 

• Do you have an eligible UK short stay visa?

and

• Does your visit to Ireland end before your permission to stay in UK ends (this is granted by an UK immigration official when you pass through UK immigration)?

and

• Was your passport issued by one of the countries listed in the list below?

 

I really do not need any hiccups or hassles with this trip. Has anyone got any experience of using this process? Have I missed anything? Do wife need to complete the Irish preclearance process please?

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by capin

[ThaIrish Sean]

I think you need to contact a specialist visa agent, possibly in the UK.

 

I am also dual nationality, British and Irish.

 

13 years ago we were due to fly to Ireland so my family could meet my fiancee  before we got married in Thailand.

I was told Ryanair would refuse to board us.

 

I decided to try sailing across the Irish sea.

We got stopped at Rosslare but were lucky to receive a visa off the immigration officer, and a 20-minute lecture.

 

Wishing you the best of luck with your travels.

[capin]

@ThaIrish Sean

 

Thanks for the advice and sharing your experience.

 

We're travelling on BA on staff travel so although we would like to make it to Ireland, we are very flexible. Reading the below I think we will be OK but I think I will take the website info with me in case I hit a "computer says no" scenario in Heathrow.

 

The BA website pointed us here ->

 

https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/IE-Ireland-(Rep.)-passport-visa-health-travel-document-requirements.htm

 

and the summary is -

 

Summary

Conditional, You will need to hold travel documents as detailed below.

 

Type: Critical

Visa

 

Visa required.

 

Visa Exemptions:

Nationals of Thailand with a short stay visa issued by the United Kingdom if they have first entered the United Kingdom and been granted a stay of 180 days in the United Kingdom. They are visa exempt for a maximum stay of 90 days in Ireland (Rep.) or until the end of the period of stay granted in the United Kingdom, whichever is shorter.

Passengers arriving in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, and traveling to Ireland (Rep.), the visa waiver programme will apply and only a visa issued by the United Kingdom will be required. The visit to Ireland (Rep.) must be within the stay granted within the United Kingdom.

Passengers are permitted to travel to a third country before traveling to Ireland (Rep.) if the visa issued by United Kingdom is still valid. Furthermore, re-entry into Ireland (Rep.) from a third country is permitted if the visa issued by the United Kingdom is still valid and period of the stay granted in the United Kingdom is still valid. Passengers with a long term visa must visit Ireland (Rep.) within a period of the current stay granted in the United Kingdom.

Passengers arriving first in Ireland (Rep.) and traveling to the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, and then returning to Ireland (Rep.) will require separate visas issued by Ireland (Rep.) and the United Kingdom. However the visa issued by the United Kingdom will be accepted under the visa waiver programme for the return journey to Ireland (Rep.).

Not applicable to short stay visas issued for the purpose of transit, marriage or to enter into a civil partnership.

[Pmbkk]

Are you talking Ireland or the northern bit(UK) ????

 

Different rules as the Republic is EU and not under British control, you couldn't go on a UK visa I believe. You'd probably need a Schengen visa.

 

I have both Irish & UK passport, my wife ILR but she can't go directly to Dublin without a visa

 

BTW - if you're from Cary/Raleigh in NC i hope all is good there - spent a few months there doing some consulting work 20 years ago. Only place I've seen a 50+ year old refused entry to a bar as he didn't have ID.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Pmbkk

[capin]

1 hour ago, Pmbkk said:

Are you talking Ireland or the northern bit(UK) ????

 

Different rules as the Republic is EU and not under British control, you couldn't go on a UK visa I believe. You'd probably need a Schengen visa.

 

I have both Irish & UK passport, my wife ILR but she can't go directly to Dublin without a visa

 

BTW - if you're from Cary/Raleigh in NC i hope all is good there - spent a few months there doing some consulting work 20 years ago. Only place I've seen a 50+ year old refused entry to a bar as he didn't have ID.

@PmbkkThanks for the reply.

 

We're flying to Dublin and driving to Kilkenny for my uncle's 80th Birthday party. So all, Republic of Ireland, Eire, the 26 counties, Free state, Whatever people want to call it.

 

We're heading to the UK on May 17th so don't have time to try for an Irish visa. I guess we'll give the UK one a go and see what happens. Not the end of the world either way, If we can't get to Ireland, We will go and visit some friends in Nottingham and spend a few days in the Lake district.

 

We live in a small town called Denver, NC which is on the shores of Lake Norman about 25 miles north of Charlotte. We love it here and we have some fantastic bars and breweries. I'm 48 and have not been id'd in many, many years. Missus is 38 and looks young but as we are usually together, she doesn't get id'd either (much to her dismay).

Edited May 3, 2022 by capin

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, capin said:

We plan to use her UK visitor visa to enter Ireland under the short stay visa waiver program.

You are quite right the waiver scheme is still in place, I am also taking my Thai wife from England to Dublin at end of May.

If you have any concerns you could change to Belfast International and go overland to Dublin, there are no border checks. I went from Belfast to Dublin last August by bus and returned by train, no checks either way.

[howerde]

.

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by howerde
missing text

[ThaIrish Sean]

6 hours ago, Pmbkk said:

. You'd probably need a Schengen visa

The United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland opted out of the Schengen visa treaty.

[capin]

8 hours ago, sandyf said:

You are quite right the waiver scheme is still in place, I am also taking my Thai wife from England to Dublin at end of May.

If you have any concerns you could change to Belfast International and go overland to Dublin, there are no border checks. I went from Belfast to Dublin last August by bus and returned by train, no checks either way.

Belfast is a great call actually. We could try for the 0630 flight to Dublin and if they won’t board us, we could take the 0730 to Belfast and take the bus from there.

[sandyf]

15 hours ago, capin said:

Belfast is a great call actually. We could try for the 0630 flight to Dublin and if they won’t board us, we could take the 0730 to Belfast and take the bus from there.

Worth having a backup plan as there is always the possibility of airline staff not being aware of the rules. There should be someone to sort it out but the danger is it is not done in time.

Worth having a copy of the waiver at hand.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Irish-Short-Stay-Visa-Waiver-Programme.pdf

[sandyf]

On 5/3/2022 at 5:43 AM, Pmbkk said:

I have both Irish & UK passport, my wife ILR but she can't go directly to Dublin without a visa

Perfectly correct. The visa waiver programme does not apply to those residing in the UK on ILR, it only applies to UK visitor visas.

[sandyf]

On 5/3/2022 at 7:18 AM, capin said:

I'm 48 and have not been id'd in many, many years. Missus is 38 and looks young but as we are usually together, she doesn't get id'd either (much to her dismay).

Something that came to  mind, last Sept when I was there I had to show proof of vaccination to get served in a bar. Not sure if still the case but worth being prepared.

[SidJames]

As long as she has short stay visitor visa to the UK then she is legally allowed to travel to Ireland as a visitor but she must have entered the UK first.

She can not fly directly into Ireland so if you were transiting through Heathrow for example then she would need to pass through immigration, out through customs to the landside then check back in for her flight to Ireland in order for the visa to be valid for travel to Ireland.

Silly rule really but then most countries seem to have silly visa rules.

My missus travels with me this way but I did once fly through Belfast.

There is a bus service outside the door to the left to the bus station in the centre where you can catch a bus to Dublin, it's cheap & takes about 2hrs with no border checks whatsoever even when boarding the bus.

[Chelseafan]

So just to be clear, my wife who is in the UK on a 2 year short-stay can travel to Northern Ireland with no additional paperwork?

 

[Mac Mickmanus]

31 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

So just to be clear, my wife who is in the UK on a 2 year short-stay can travel to Northern Ireland with no additional paperwork?

 

The U.K compromises of England, Scotland , Northern Ireland and Wales , so people with a U,K visa can go anywhere in the U.K 

[capin]

We’ve just boarded the flight at Heathrow bound for Dublin. No one even looked at the missus’ passport or visa

Edited May 20, 2022 by capin

[capin]

Cleared immigration in Dublin with no issue. A few question and wanted to see green card and that was it.

[capin]

Return to the LHR there were no checks whatsoever.

[Mavideol]

many answers about the EU vs UK visa thus my post was irrelevant,  good luck

Edited May 24, 2022 by Mavideol

[Mavideol]

On 5/3/2022 at 12:23 PM, ThaIrish Sean said:

The United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland opted out of the Schengen visa treaty.

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/ireland-officially-joins-the-schengen-information-system-sis-ii/

Ireland Officially Joins the Schengen Information System – SIS II

https://europe-visa.com/ireland-schengen-do-i-need-etias-to-visit-irish-territory/

 

Can I Visit Ireland with a Schengen Visa?

A Schengen Visa covers you for longer stays within the Schengen Area and can be used to study and work in the region. However, it is not valid in Ireland.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Mavideol

[ThaIrish Sean]

8 hours ago, Mavideol said:

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/ireland-officially-joins-the-schengen-information-system-sis-ii/

Ireland Officially Joins the Schengen Information System – SIS II

https://europe-visa.com/ireland-schengen-do-i-need-etias-to-visit-irish-territory/

 

Can I Visit Ireland with a Schengen Visa?

A Schengen Visa covers you for longer stays within the Schengen Area and can be used to study and work in the region. However, it is not valid in Ireland.

Don't confuse people, the Republic of Ireland is not part of the Schengen visa treaty You cannot get into the Republic of Ireland on a Schengen visa.

Here is a list of the countries in the Schengen visa treaty.

 

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/

[Mavideol]

11 hours ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

Don't confuse people, the Republic of Ireland is not part of the Schengen visa treaty You cannot get into the Republic of Ireland on a Schengen visa.

Here is a list of the countries in the Schengen visa treaty.

 

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/

maybe you didn't read the full post   

 

A Schengen Visa covers you for longer stays within the Schengen Area and can be used to study and work in the region. However, it is not valid in Ireland.

 

 

[SidJames]

On 5/6/2022 at 2:12 AM, Chelseafan said:

So just to be clear, my wife who is in the UK on a 2 year short-stay can travel to Northern Ireland with no additional paperwork?

 

Yes.