what visa ? fly from dublin airport to thailand. help

[pumpjack]

i have had some advice on another not very well known forum.  but got little advise.      i need to know this : 

my wife is in belfast / UK

she has ILR in UK

she wants only to travel via car from belfast overland to dublin airport then fly to thailand for 3 weeks to visit family

she will return same way

she will travel with me ( her spouse EEA national of irish & british nationality ) 

can she get an irish visa ( read somewhere its free )  or does she require a shengen ? 

 

PS .    we want to fly in 1st sept    return on   21 sept 2017.

PS.     i have wrote INIS   three emails in last week to ask them can she get an irish visa instead of shengen but i have had  no reply from them . 

[7by7]

The RoI is not part of the Schengen area, so she does not need a Schengen visa.

 

She is not covered by the Irish short stay visa waiver programme as she has UK ILR; only UK visit visa holders are covered by this programme.

 

So officially, she will require an Irish visa.

 

You  cannot use your British nationality to obtain a free Irish visa under the EU Freedom of Movement Directive because you are also an Irish citizen; the FoM does not cover family members of dual EU nationals when travelling to one of the states of which the EU national is a citizen.

 

A transit visa will not be suitable as she will be entering the Republic by land from Northern Ireland on her outward journey and then entering the Republic at Dublin airport upon her return to travel back to Belfast by land. Transit visas are only available to those transiting through and remaining airside at an Irish airport whilst changing planes. If they are entering the Republic for any reason, they need the appropriate Irish visa.

 

So, it seems to me she will need a multi entry Short stay tourist visa

 

Many people will say that there are no fixed border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic; and they're correct.

 

However, the Immigration Gardaí do carry out random checks; for example Irish police hold EU workers at Dundalk border. If you are stopped by one of these checks and she doesn't have the correct Irish visa she will, at best, be delayed while they check everything and make a decision; at worst refused entry.

 

Even if all goes ok on the outward journey and she gets to Dublin without a visa and boards her flight;  on her return trip she may be refused boarding by the airline when attempting to leave Thailand if she doesn't have the correct visa for her destination; Ireland.

[pumpjack]

ok thankyou,

 

but why a  " multi entry "  she is only going 1 time for a three week  holiday to visit family in thailand .    INIS havent replied to my emails and i take it they have a massive load on with immigration so i think it would not be safe to book flights for september incase the visa didnt come through in 5 weeks.

 

BTW  i cross border 5-6 times per year ,   never ever  have i seen a border checkpoint in last 15 years.        ok but thats not to say she wouldnt ever hit one .  

[Kieranmc]

No matter about borders etc your main problem will be returning from Thailand to Ireland. 

 

No valid visa visa for the republic of Ireland will result in denial to the flight. 

 

The airline will want to see a valid irish visa to allow her to board. 

Edited July 15, 2017 by Kieranmc

[7by7]

17 hours ago, pumpjack said:

why a  " multi entry "  she is only going 1 time for a three week  holiday to visit family in thailand

Because she will be entering the Republic twice; once on her journey from Belfast to Dublin, and again on her flight from Thailand to Dublin.

 

18 hours ago, pumpjack said:

BTW  i cross border 5-6 times per year ,   never ever  have i seen a border checkpoint in last 15 years.        ok but thats not to say she wouldnt ever hit one .

Indeed, from the article I linked to above

Quote

Paddy Finn said his workers had been stopped before, but had never been asked to produce documents and had never been detained.

Mr Finn, who relies on migrant workers, has land on both sides of the border and his workers regularly cross for harvest work.

A Garda spokesman said such operations had been ongoing for several years.

He said that under Irish immigration law, non-Irish nationals are required to carry documentation.

The workers in that article were EU nationals, so all they needed was photo identification showing their nationality; but your wife is not an EU national and so needs her passport and a visa.

 

 

17 hours ago, Kieranmc said:

No matter about borders etc your main problem will be returning from Thailand to Ireland. 

 

No valid visa visa for the republic of Ireland will result in denial to the flight. 

 

The airline will want to see a valid irish visa to allow her to board. 

Even if the airline were to let her board without a visa, doubtful, if she has to pass through Irish immigration on arrival at Dublin then without a visa she would have problems. Again, best case scenario is she would be admitted after a lengthy delay, worst case is she would be refused entry by the INIS sent back to her departure point; Thailand.

 

My advice; either get her the necessary Irish visa, or change your plans and fly from a UK airport.

[tiocfaidh]

I have travelled to ROI many times with my wife I married my wife as an EEA member. I am the same as you and I have an Irish and British passport. We went to London and got a visa from the Irish consulate. There is a charge but they waive it for you if you are an Irish passport holder.