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New immigration changes announced by Govt. of Ireland

Posted on: November 18, 2021 | Back | Print

Embassy of India
Dublin
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Dated 27 January, 2022

New immigration changes announced by Govt. of Ireland

Government of Ireland has announced following changes to facilitate immigration requirements over the Christmas period.

Individuals holding an Irish Residence Permit card that was in-date at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, will now have its validity period extended to 15 January 2022. This means that they may use their current expired card to enable them to depart from and return to Ireland in confidence over Christmas and until 15 January 2022.

Anyone travelling during this time will be able to print a copy of a travel confirmation notice (see link below) and display this with your existing IRP card to show proof of residence when returning to Ireland before the 15 January 2022. The re-entry visa requirements for children under the age of 16 have also been suspended until 15 January 2022.

The travel confirmation notice and FAQ document are available on the Department’s Irish Immigration website at:

Adult customers who plan to travel abroad beyond 15 January 2022 should apply to renew their immigration permission and receive a new IRP card. Otherwise, they must secure a re-entry visa in Ireland before travelling or in an overseas visa office before returning.

The current suspension of the re-entry visa requirement for any minors already residing in Ireland and travelling with a legally resident parent will continue in line with the new extension until 31 May 2022.

Government of Ireland has also announced a further temporary extension of immigration and international protection permissions to 31 May 2022. This applies to permissions that are due to expire between 15 January 2022 and 31 May 2022 and includes permissions that have already been extended by the previous eight temporary extensions since March 2020. This temporary extension of immigration permissions means that people who held a valid permission to be in the State in March 2020 are legally permitted to remain until 31 May 2022, even if their Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card has expired and they are awaiting a new one.

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