Ireland: Certain Non-Ukrainian Refugees Now Require Visa for Short-Term Entry
July 20, 2022
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At a Glance
- Due to Ireland temporarily suspending the Council of Europe Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees, refugees holding Convention Travel Documents issued by ‘safe’ European countries will now need to apply for a visa to travel to Ireland for less than 90 days.
- Visa-free travel is still available for Ukrainian nationals.
- The government has stated the change will last for an initial 12-month period and is designed to strengthen the integrity of the immigration system.
The situation
Effective immediately and for an initial 12-month period, refugees holding a travel document issued according to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees issued by the following 20 European countries will now need to apply for a visa to travel to Ireland: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, or Switzerland.
Impact
Impacted travelers will need to apply for a visa at an Irish consulate prior to travel, which requires additional time, unlike visa-free travel.
Visa-free travel is still available for Ukrainian nationals.
Permission to work will still be governed by the same rules as for other non-European Economic Area nationals and employers should ensure they have applied for the appropriate work authorisation and visa prior to travel.
Background
- Purpose of Agreement. The Agreement allows refugees issued with Convention Travel Documents (also known as a ‘Convention Travel Document’ or ‘refugee travel document’) in 20 European countries to travel to and stay in Ireland without a visa for visit purposes for up to three months.
- Purpose of suspension. This temporary change is due to Ireland suspending the Council of Europe Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees for 12 months due to what the government claims is evidence of abuse of the system and amid the ongoing accommodation shortage for refugees.
- Previous suspensions. Article 7 of the Agreement allows countries to suspend its application for reasons of public order, security or public health. Two previous suspensions for similar reasons were by France (in 1986) and the United Kingdom (in 2003).
Looking ahead
It is unclear if Ireland will issue more changes that will restrict entry rules or if this is a one-off rule, as this modification is contrary to previous changes that were implemented to make the immigration process more user-friendly, such as recently expanding the eligibility for multiple-entry visas.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
