In This Section
Introduction
This page explains about the Common Travel Area (CTA) and what it means for passengers.
What is the Common Travel Area (CTA)?
The Common Travel Area (CTA) is comprised of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Ireland. Within the CTA, Irish and British citizens can travel freely. Please read below for what that means for arriving passengers.
What does the CTA mean for arriving passengers?
There is generally no separation of arriving passengers at Irish airports and seaports. This means that immigration officers performing immigration control duties at airports in the State do not know where passengers have travelled from when passengers present at immigration control desks.
For that reason, it is necessary for immigration officers to establish where passengers have arrived from, so an immigration officer may ask passengers questions with a view to establishing their nationality and port of embarkation.
Helpful documents to show
When the immigration officer is satisfied that a person is a citizen of the CTA and that the person has travelled from the United Kingdom, the Immigration Officer will make no further requirement of that person. A person who is entitled to avail of the CTA, can assist the immigration officer by showing one of the following: