Hi, I am hoping you can advise me. We are planning a trip to Ireland to visit my brother as he has just moved to Kerry with his wife and kids.

We live in London and my wife has been in the U.K. since 1989. She has the indefinite stay stamp in her passport and will be travelling with a return ticket when we go.

My question is, will we still need to go through the hassle of getting a short stay visa gor her to visit for the weekend, or will they let her through.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Sean.

Yes, your wife will require a visa for Ireland. However, if you are British, then her visa should be free.

Scouse.

Sean,

My understanding is that as your (I presume Thai ) wife has a visa to a European country she can travel throughout Europe on this visa.

If that is not the case, flights to and from Ireland are domestic flights - from domestic terminal and passports are not needed. My Thai wife and I have travelled to UK and never had to show our passports.

Unless you get more precise advice and are still concerned, it is worth noting that Northern Ireland is covered under her UK visa and there are no longer border controls on border with republic.

Although Ireland and the UK are part of the common travel area, either the Garda or the British Immigration Service can institute border checks as they see fit. Consequently, to my mind it is not worth taking the risk of being picked up by a spot-check. Additionally, the airline check-in staff could deny boarding if your wife were not to be in possession of a valid visa.

The one-visa-fits-all scenario that Joe mentioned relates to the Schengen area and neither the UK nor Ireland is a Schengen member.

Scouse.