Question:
i'll be visiting some relatives and friends in ireland soon. am
planning to stay for about two months, will be living with relatives so
I don't have to budget for accommodation and my expeses will be paid for
by them. question is, are we supposed to show proof of funding at the
immigration in the airport to be allowed entry? since my expenses are
paid for i'll be bringing pocket money, which definitely won't be as
much money as i would need if i were to be visiting ireland
independently for two months. please advise on the immigration
requirements? to those who have travelled to ireland for periods of 3
weeks/1month and more, have you had to show proof of your finances?
Answer:
And how you look, too.
Unlikely. Immigration in Ireland is very unlike Immigration in the US.
However, I hold an Irish passport and with just a flash of that have been
cursorily waved through. But was arriving from the UK and a passport is not
required for transit between these two countries.
Bizzarely, we went through passport control on a Ryanair flight from
Manchester to Dublin last year. They actually stamped my partner's US
passport and had a look at my UK one.
OK - checking on your location reveals you are in Malaysia. Malaysian
nationals do not need a visa to come to Ireland. You must seek permission to
remain from the Department of Justice if you wish to stay in Ireland for
longer than 3 months. You can visit the Department of Foreign Affairs (for
Ireland) website http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie
http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/services/traveladvice/02.asp#01
It says "With the exception of travel to the United Kingdom, Irish citizens
require a valid passport for travel to all destinations."
And
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/Sho...
says "Ireland, along with the UK, is a member of the Common Travel Area.
This means that United Kingdom passport holders do not require their
passport to visit Ireland for immigration purposes."
So therefore, a passport is not required, as you could simply get around it
if it was, by saying you were Irish or English.
Highly bizarre: the UK and Ireland form a common travel area with no
passport control on moving between them. I live near the land
frontier, and the border crossings are not monitored.
It is the case that Dublin airport is organised in such a way that all
incoming passengers pass through immigration, but if you come of a
flight from the UK or from elsewhere in Ireland you are not obliged to
show passports. You are not required to carry them (Ryanair's rules
are another matter).
But I'm not English! :)
Yes, I know I don't _need_ the passport- I was just a bit taken aback
that we went through a control.
Not exactly: the condition is travelling between the UK and Ireland.
What you say about the organisation of the airport sheds light on why we
went through immigration- I'd assumed there would be no checks at all.
There were no signs that I could see which said we didn't _have_ to show
a passport. I just went upstairs and double-checked my partner's
passport- sure enough, there's a stamp and written by hand '1 week' for
the length of stay.
(Our passports are our only recognised form of ID, so even on domestic
flights, we'd take them.)
That's what I was saying, because if passport holders from other countries
were required to show their passports, they could simply say they were of
British or Irish nationality to be exempt.
You miss the point (the FCO document is partly to blame for that). The
UK and Ireland constitute a common travel area for all, not just for
UK and Irish citizens. Anybody who is entitled to be in one state is
entitled to enter the other, no matter what his or her nationality be.
Perhaps I was explaining poorly. My point was that they couldn't
realistically have passport control for anyone if there were certain
nationalities that didn't need a passport, since without the passport, they
would find it difficult to prove that they were of the nationality that didn
't need them.
I have not experienced such a situation myself, but I have always assumed
that producing one of the well-known credit cards (bearing the same personal
details as in my passport) would be sufficient evidence of my financial
capacities. Perhaps somebody else can confirm (or correct) this assumption.
Let me explain it to you in very simple terms:
1st case: Ferry arriving from Holyhead (Wales) - no one on the ferry
needs to show a passport even if he is from Uzbekistan.
2nd case: Ferry arriving from Roscoff (France) - everyone on ferry
must show passport, even if he's from Limerick.
I understand documents might be now checked even in such a case, and
even if he is from Eire or UK.
Are there any airlines operating between UK and Ireland that will let
passengers check in without a passport?
Nor I either; we must assume that your general deportment and appearance
makes some impression on the Immigration Officials as to what series of
questions they may ask wherever you are. Garbage-Bag luggage and a
Thrift-Store trousseau could probably single you out for a 'financial
analysis' more often than common travelers rumple... I'd bet a nice
pair of shiny shoes (or name brand athletics) tends to walk you right
through without financial question whatever your means actually are...
They call it 'profiling' around here...
My brother always wears brand name athletics gear and *always* gets pulled
at the immigration point. Perhaps that's because he is heavily built, has a
shaven head and looks like a thug.
"As the zone is not the result of a treaty or law, it is subject to
change without negotiation. In 1997, Ireland unilaterally brought in a
requirement for photo-id at ports. However, this rule is currently only
enforced in airports; the land border between the Republic and Northern
Ireland is open. The level of enforcement of the photo ID requirement is
also very varied. Officially, a bus pass with a photo is enough to
enter, but in practice, you will be asked to state your nationality as
you enter. It is also known for groups of people to be waved through
regardless of their nationality - which creates its own problems if
someone must have documentary record of when they left and entered the UK."
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Common_Travel_Area
