Restrictions, including the suspension of visa-free travel, lifted for nationals of South Africa, Brazil and other South American countries
Move is in line with the Government’s Resilience and Recovery Plan for Living with COVID-19
Travellers arriving into Ireland must continue to comply fully with all public health measures

15 June 2021

The Minister for Justice, Heather Humphreys TD has today announced the lifting of the temporary entry and transit visa restrictions that came into effect on 28 January 2021.

Announcing the changes, Minister Humphreys said,

“As the pandemic situation continues to improve, I am delighted to sign the Order that reverses, with effect from Wednesday 16 June, the temporary entry and transit visa restrictions which were brought in as a necessary interim measure to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect public health.

“The move to lift the visa restrictions is in line with the Government’s Resilience and Recovery Plan for Living with COVID-19.

“We remain fully supportive of the general policy against non-essential travel and all travellers arriving into Ireland must continue to comply fully with the public health measures required by law. These include completing a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form, pre-arrival PCR test and quarantine in a designated facility or at home.”

The Minister continued,

“The lifting of these temporary restrictions will be welcome news for people from South Africa, Brazil and other South American countries who need to travel to Ireland for essential reasons.

“It is only through the collective effort of everyone, including our migrant communities, that Ireland has made such significant progress against the spread of COVID-19.

“As we continue to reopen our society and look forward to the future, it is important that people are able to travel here for essential purposes while adhering to public health measures that are designed to keep us all safe.”

The move to lift the visa restrictions comes as the processing of all long-stay visa applications has resumed. The situation will continue to be reviewed in consultation with the relevant authorities in the coming weeks.

ENDS…/

Notes for Editors:

The Immigration Act 2004 (Visa) (Amendment) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 23 of 2021) came into effect on 28 January 2021.

The effect of the Order, which amended Schedules 1 and 5 to the Immigration Act 2004 (Visas) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 473 of 2014), was:

To provide that nationals of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guyana, Paraguay, South Africa and Uruguay are required to be in possession of a valid Irish visa when landing in the State.
To provide that nationals of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa, Suriname and Uruguay are required to be in possession of a valid Irish transit visa when arriving at a port in the State for purposes of passing through the port in order to travel to another state.

The following table outlines the changes following the lifting of visa restrictions on 16 June 2021:

Country

Visa restriction since 28 January 2021

Visa situation as of 16 June 2021

Argentina