If you are traveling to Ireland and you are not a citizen of the UK, Switzerland, or a country in the European Economic Area (the EU plus Norway, Iceland, and Lichtenstein), you may need to apply for a visa.

An Irish visa is a certificate placed on your passport or travel document that allows you to travel to Ireland. You still have to present your passport and documents to immigration control when you arrive at the airport or port, and an immigration officer may still refuse your entry to Ireland.

If you are traveling with children, you have to apply for a visa for your children too.

You may also have to register with immigration authorities.

You do not need a visa to land in Ireland if you:

• Are a citizen of the EU or the EEA (the EU plus Iceland, Norway, and Lichtenstein) or Switzerland
• Have a residence card issued by an EEA country or Switzerland because you are the family member of an EEA or Swiss citizen living in a country outside of the EEA/Swiss family member’s home country 
• Have a UK short-stay visa and qualify for the short-stay visa waiver or the British-Irish Visa Scheme
• Are you a school student who lives in an EU/EEA country and you are traveling as part of a school trip

Note Visa-free travel also applies to the following types of British nationality:

• British national (overseas)
• British overseas territories citizen (previously called ‘British dependent territories citizenship)
• British overseas citizen

Visa-free travel does not apply to people who have a British passport as a ‘British protected person’.

If you are moving to Ireland to live with your Irish de facto partner, a spouse or partner who holds a Critical Skills Employment Permit, or your UK spouse or partner, you have to apply for preclearance even if you are from one of the countries listed above (this does not apply to citizens of Switzerland or the UK).