Visa for Ireland

[barrys]

I have to go back to Ireland for the first time in over 10 years just for a week and the gf wants to go with me.

Does anyone know how easy it is to get a visa for her.
Given that there are no direct flights to Ireland (as far as I know), does it mean she has to get a second visa for the country we would have to travel through.

I know this used to be the case for the UK because flights to Ireland count as domestic flights for some reason, and therefore you've officially entered the country and are not regarded as being in transit.

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of this situation?

[loverboy44]

Hi Barry,
i would get a Schengen Visa and have a transit through the EU to avoid any problems.
If it is difficult to get simply depends on your gf i would say. She needs a reason to come back to Thailand and therefore she needs to be able to prove that.

[lindosfan1]

Schengen visa are not applicable to Ireland, If you have a through ticket and change flights without entering immigration the only visa you need is one for the final destination.

[sfirish]

No transit visa is necessary if you connect direct to your flight. Its not that difficult to get a visitors visa to Ireland for Thai gf however you may need an Irish resident to be a sponsor

[JimmyGreaves]

Ladt time I enquired the visa takes an age as you give it to the bkk office and they send it to malaysia me thinks, so give lots of time

[barrys]

Thanks a lot for all your help.

I've found a website with some application forms - so we'll just give it a shot and see how we get on.

However, if anyone has already been through this procedure for Ireland, in particular, I certainly would appreciate a few tips

[sfirish]

barry,
I just spoke to my buddy who just did this 2 months ago. He said the process took about 6 weeks. His angle was that the gf was going back to visit his sister (sponsor) for a family event (Christening). The sister said the gf was a friend of the family as they had met on a couple of occasions while visiting Hua HIn. The sister submitted bank statements and copies of passport to show she had visited Thailand in the past (obviously to show that they met gf in Thailand before). Hope that helps a bit ......

[charlesh]

Yeah and I bet if g/f was an illegal immigrant aka asylum seeker with Burqa she would be welcomed with open arms into Europe's self proclaimed smartest country! Makes your blood boil don't it?