Priority/Emergency Visas

Priority/Emergency Visa cases that will continue to be accepted and processed

• All long stay Employment applications, supported by a work permit or Atypical permission;
• patients travelling for imperative medical reasons;
• transport workers or transport service providers, including drivers of freight vehicles carrying goods for use in the territory as well as those merely transiting;
• pupils, students and trainees who travel abroad on a daily basis and Third-country nationals travelling for the purpose of 3rd level study;
• Join Family applications;
• Preclearance applications from De Facto Partner of an Irish National, De Facto Partner of a Critical Skills Employment Permit Holder, or of a non EEA Researcher on a Hosting Agreement and Family members looking to join a UK National in Ireland;
• persons travelling for imperative family* or business reasons;
• Persons entitled to avail of the provision of the EU Free Movement Directive;
• diplomats, staff of international organisations and people invited by international organisations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organisations, military personnel and police officers, and humanitarian aid workers and civil protection personnel in the exercise of their functions;
• passengers in transit;
• seafarers;
• journalists, when performing their duties.

Imperative Family Reasons

Imperative family reasons are assessed on an individual basis and are largely confined to emergency cases that may arise in a family situation. Applications will be determined by examining the circumstances and supporting documentation of each case on an individual basis. Separation from a loved one or to miss a family occasion or milestone, unfortunately, do not constitute an imperative family reason for a short stay visa application at this time due to public health concerns.

If you are seeking to make a short stay visa application you should check with your local Irish Embassy/Honorary Consulate/Visa Office to confirm that your application meets the Priority/Emergency criteria. You should follow the instructions given on the summary page as to where you should submit your application.

Please note, the capacity of individual Embassies and Consulates abroad to accept visa applications will be dependent on public health restrictions that are in place in each location. Please check the website of the relevant Embassy or Consulate for further details.

Public Health Restrictions on Movement

These measures are designed to support public health restrictions on movement, including into and out of Ireland. The strong advice, therefore, is that everyone, regardless of their nationality or visa/preclearance status, or where they started from, who cannot provide proof of an essential purpose to travel to, should not travel to Ireland.

Please note that all passengers arriving into Ireland from designated states after 4 am on the morning of Friday 26 March are now required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility, and to pre-pay for their stay.

Requirement for Entry Visa or Transit Visa

As of midnight 27 January 2021, in addition to countries who were visa required prior to that date, passport holders of the following countries are now also required to apply for an entry visa or transit visa, as appropriate, before travelling to Ireland:

• Argentina

• Bolivia

• Brazil

• Chile

• Colombia (transit visa now required – this country is already subject to entry visa requirements)

• Ecuador (transit visa now required – this country is already subject to entry visa requirements)

• Guyana

• Paraguay

• Peru (transit visa now required – this country is already subject to entry visa requirements)

• South Africa

• Suriname (transit visa now required – this country is already subject to entry visa requirements)

• Uruguay

Immigration & Visa Services Ireland

IVS Ireland provides professional services with support, advice, information and the necessary representation required and will assist you in submitting your applications, requests and documents to the various governmental departments.