Travel and Re-Entry Visas

If you are a visa-required national and are in possession of your valid, in-date Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card, you do not require any type of re-entry visa to facilitate your return to Ireland following travel.

If you are a non-visa required national, you also do not require an IRP card or any type of visa to enable your return to Ireland following travel.

The current suspension of re-entry visas for under 16s removes the requirement for children under 16 years of age to hold a re-entry visa to return to Ireland if accompanied by their parent or legal guardian who holds a valid in-date permission to reside in Ireland.

Emergency re-entry visas can only obtained before planned travel and cannot be requested from outside of Ireland. If you are a visa-required national, currently outside of Ireland and require an emergency visa to enable your return to Ireland, you will need to contact the closest Visa Office or Irish Embassy or Consular Office to your location to apply for an emergency “D” entry visa.

Despite re-entry visas not being required for those in possession of their valid IRP card, in certain urgent, emergency, or extenuating circumstances, the provision of a re-entry visa can be considered where there is a genuine and unforeseen urgent need to exit and re-enter Ireland in unexpected conditions without being in possession of a valid IRP card.

To be considered for an emergency re-entry visa, you must be in-permission through to the return date of your planned travel. If your permission is expired or expires before your return date, you cannot be provided with a re-entry visa.

Typical reasons why an IRP card holder may not be in possession of their IRP card include:

• An IRP card has been lost or stolen prior to travelling.
• An IRP card has not yet been received by post following successful approval.
• An IRP card contains a significant error that may not be accepted by airlines or border controls.

The current suspension of re-entry visas for under 16s removes the requirement for children under 16 years of age to hold a re-entry visa to return to Ireland if accompanied by their parent or legal guardian who holds an in date permission to reside in the State.

In preparation for making travel plans, applicants are always advised to check with airline providers prior to booking to ensure that they are willing to accept children without re-entry visas on board their airline.

Individuals, including those who have previously experienced challenges with connecting flights, are welcome to enquire about this by submitting a query through the below method. All such requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. Please be aware that there is no guarantee that a request will be facilitated.

Please see the guidelines to travelling with children for further practical information which you may find useful when travelling to and from Ireland with children in your care.

To obtain a re-entry visa as a Stamp 6 permission (without condition) holder, please submit a query through the below method. (Note: To be eligible to apply for this, you must have a valid “without condition” stamp in your passport).

To apply for a re-entry visa, please log-in to the Customer Service Portal and follow the instructions to correctly categorise and submit a query to request the type of re-entry visa that you require.

• All requests will be considered from the details provided in the query. Please provide as much relevant information as possible to support your request.
• Please include a picture of the biometric page of your passport along with proof of outbound and return flight tickets, including details of connecting flights for your planned upcoming travel.
• All requests should be submitted as early as possible before your planned travel to allow time for the request to be considered and to avoid any potential disruption to your travel plans.
• If deemed applicable, you will be allocated an appointment to attend in-person to obtain a re-entry visa in your passport at our Dublin Registration Office.

Please note that this is the only method that can be used to request a re-entry visa.

• Appointments for re-entry visas are not bookable on the online registration appointment booking platform (these appointment slots are specifically for persons registering an immigration permission for the first time).
• Walk-ins will not be facilitated in the Registration Office. If you do not have a confirmed appointment, you will not be permitted entry.
• Postal applications for re-entry visas are not accepted.
• Unless you are specifically directed to do so by an Immigration/Registration Officer, you should never send your passport by post to the Registration Office.

Information on School Pupil Visa Waivers and their associated requirements can be found here.