UK or Irish Visa

[capin]

Hi All,

 

I have dual UK and Irish citizenship and passports for both. Currently living in the US with my Thai wife, I am on L1B and she is my L2. I am in the Green card process (PERM has been filed) and am waiting to get to the next step (I485??).

 

I'd like to take my wife to the UK or Ireland next year to see where my family is from. Mum, Dad, sisters, grown up daughter, extended family in London and extended family that we are very close to in the Irish republic. 

 

From reading this forum and other places I think that a UK visa will allow her to visit Ireland but an Irish visa won't allow a visit to the UK. On just that fact, I would view a UK visa better than an Irish visa. Is an Irish tourist visa easier to get than a British one please? 

 

Thanks,

[SidJames]

A UK C class tourist visa (basic 6 month tourist visa) will allow her to travel to RoI but she must travel through the UK first & not travel directly into RoI.

All she would need to do was go through immigration in the UK then back through & board a flight to Ireland.

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS

 

[capin]

22 hours ago, SidJames said:

A UK C class tourist visa (basic 6 month tourist visa) will allow her to travel to RoI but she must travel through the UK first & not travel directly into RoI.

All she would need to do was go through immigration in the UK then back through & board a flight to Ireland.

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS

 

Thanks for the response @SidJames

 

Does anyone happen to know if either visa (UK or Ireland) is easier to get? I've been reading bad things about VFS.

[theoldgit]

10 hours ago, capin said:

Does anyone happen to know if either visa (UK or Ireland) is easier to get? I've been reading bad things about VFS.

For a UK Visa VFS's only involvement is to receive the application, they are not involved in the visa decision making process, though it's fair to say that don't make it easy.

 

VFS aren't involved in the Irish visa process, applications are received by the Irish Consulate.

 

As to which is easier, that's subjective and dependent on your travel plans.

[SidJames]

23 hours ago, capin said:

Thanks for the response @SidJames

 

Does anyone happen to know if either visa (UK or Ireland) is easier to get? I've been reading bad things about VFS.

I'm not sure if the Irish visa gives you access to the UK but the UK one does allow access to Eire.

You can always go in the back door via Belfast though as that's considered a domestic flight or get the ferry via scotland

[7by7]

19 hours ago, SidJames said:

I'm not sure if the Irish visa gives you access to the UK but the UK one does allow access to Eire.

The arrangement is not reciprocal.

 

A UK visit visa is, as you said, valid for entry to the RoI during it's validity, provided the holder enters the Republic from the UK, but an Irish visa of any type is not valid for entry to the UK. 

 

19 hours ago, SidJames said:

You can always go in the back door via Belfast though as that's considered a domestic flight or get the ferry via Scotland

If she did that, then the OP's wife would be in the UK illegally.

 

The UK and RoI are part of a common travel area together with the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. This means that citizens of these do not need a passport when travelling within the CTA; but they may be asked for some form of photo ID confirming their nationality. For us Brits that's a passport! 

 

Until Brexit, EU/EEA nationals are basically the same; no passport required to enter the UK but photo ID confirming their nationality is.

 

All others do need valid passports and, if required, a valid visa.

 

There may not be permanent checks between the RoI and Northern Ireland and the RoI and mainland UK, especially if travelling by road, rail or sea, but there are random ones.  

 

Because of this, @capin, I'd suggest she gets a UK visa and you visit London first then the Republic.

 

As she is legally resident in the USA, she shouldn't experience any problems in this. Though I can't comment on the operations of VFS there compared to those in Thailand. Note though that she doesn't go to a VFS office to have her biometrics taken, she makes an online appointment at a US Department of Homeland Security application support centre (ASC) to do this as part of her online application. She then posts all her documents, including passport, to VFS in New York.

 

See Apply for a UK visa in the USA  for more, including details of the 'super priority and premium visa services' if you are prepared to pay for it and live close enough to a VFS office offering it.