On January 27, 2021, Ireland imposed a new requirement for passport holders from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia*, Ecuador*, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru*, South Africa, Suriname*, and Uruguay that they must also apply for an entry visa or transit visa, as appropriate, before traveling to Ireland. For travelers from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Suriname a transit visa now required – this country is already subject to entry visa requirements.
At the same time, the government announced it would temporarily stop accepting new visa/preclearance applications, except for Priority/Emergency cases. This policy applied to all countries.
On Wednesday, May 5, the government announced that these measures will remain in place until further notice, with a planned update to follow.
Certain Priority/Emergency cases will continue to be processed and these include the following:
Workers or self-employed persons exercising critical occupations including healthcare workers, frontier and posted workers as well as seasonal workers as referred to in the Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of workers during the COVID-19 outbreak;
- transport workers or transport service providers, including drivers of freight vehicles carrying goods for use in the territory as well as those merely transiting;
- patients traveling for imperative medical reasons;
- pupils, students, and trainees who travel abroad on a daily basis and Third-country nationals traveling for the purpose of 3rd level study;
- persons traveling for imperative family or business reasons;
- diplomats, staff of international organizations and people invited by international organizations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organizations, 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.
Erickson Immigration Group will continue to send updates as more news is available. If you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions, please contact your employer or EIG attorney.