08/07/2024
BREAKING NEWS: South African passport holders will need visas to travel to Republic of Ireland (including for transit), effective Wednesday 10th July. Transitional arrangements will be in place for travel up to 9th August for travel already booked.
This is the info put out so far about the transitional arrangements:
- If you booked travel BEFORE 10th July for dates before 9th August then you will not need a visa as long as you provide proof that your travel was booked before 10th July. This proof needs to be from the carrier, not a travel agent.
- If you book after 10th July for travel dates before 9th August then you don’t qualify for visa-free travel as you made your plans once the visa requirement was in place so you’d need to get a visa via VFS.
- If your travel is from 9th August onwards, no matter when you booked it, you need to get a visa via VFS.
Will update if this changes.
With so many people visiting Ireland as its visa-free, there are bound to be people who don’t check the updated requirements (which are still being updated online), so make sure to let people know and tell them to check official sources.
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/85960-minister-mcentee-announces-new-visa-requirements-for-south-african-and-botswana-nationals/ #:~:text=The%20Minister%20for%20Justice%20Helen,en%2Droute%20to%20another%20destination.
