Ireland tourist visa (short stay 'C' visit visa)

The short stay C visit visa is for sightseeing, short holidays, short courses of study or other leisure stays of up to 90 days. Whether you need it depends on your nationality: ISD publishes the list of visa-required countries.

Ireland is outside the Schengen Area, so a Schengen visa does not open the Irish border and an Irish visa does not open Schengen countries. Separate visa categories exist in AVATS for business, conferences and events, medical treatment and marriage.

Visa offices publish checklists and expect originals only, arranged in checklist order with the checklist on top. Officers look for verifiable ties to your country of residence: employment backed by official records, a registered business, a pension, enrolment at a school, and civil status documents showing your family.

Every document not in English needs a full translation stating that it is accurate, with the translator’s name, signature, date and contact details. Hotel bookings and employer letters must carry correct contact details because the visa office may verify them.

There is no official minimum: the visa officer decides whether you can pay for the trip and support yourself, judging from your own circumstances. Bank statements must cover the 6 months before you apply. A fixed-term deposit is accepted only with a bank letter confirming access during the trip, and sudden large deposits must be explained or they will be ignored.

If someone in Ireland pays for you, they send their own 6-month statement, 3 recent payslips, a recent tax summary and an employer letter, with a costed list of what they will cover in euro.

Apply from the country where you live legally, up to 3 months before travel. Fill in AVATS honestly, print and sign the summary, then submit your file and fee to the Irish embassy, consulate or visa office named on your AVATS summary, or the visa application centre it uses. Application centres only handle paperwork; decisions are made by visa officers.

If you are not a national of the country you apply from, you need permission to live there; visitors without a residence permit must apply in their own country of residence.

Plan for roughly 8 weeks from receipt at the visa office, more in peak seasons. Visa offices do not give updates on individual files, but decisions are published by transaction number. Approved visas are placed in the passport, which is returned with your original civil documents.

A visa only allows you to travel; the immigration officer decides on entry and stamps the date by which you must leave. Ireland does not stamp passports on exit, so keep boarding passes as proof. Travel or medical insurance does not have to be filed with every application, but you must show it on arrival if asked.

Visitor permission can be extended only after an unforeseen change of circumstances, such as being medically unfit to travel; a request beyond 90 days goes to Immigration Service Delivery and, if approved, a €300 registration fee applies.

From 1 June 2026 a refused short-stay visa can no longer be appealed; the only appeals still possible in the short-stay category are those of family members of EU, EEA or Swiss citizens under the Free Movement Directive. The refusal letter lists the reasons, and a new AVATS application with a new fee is the way forward.

Hiding an earlier refusal from any country leads to refusal, and false or misleading documents can result in a ban on applying for an Irish visa for up to 5 years.