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A few weeks ago, I landed in Dublin to visit my partner and friends that I have in Northern Ireland. On seeing that I had previously been a UK resident, the immigration officer asked me lots of questions. She then asked if I would be staying in ROI at any point during my trip, to which I responded "no." I explained that I would be staying at my partner's house in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

After this she put this stamp and written annotation in my passport:

passport stamp with IT NI handwritten

I just noticed it today. What does it mean? I am applying for a fiancé visa next week for the UK and I want to avoid any issues. Should I be worried about this?

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    I'd guess "IT NI" stands for "In Transit to Northern Ireland".
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Jul 2, 2018 at 17:18
  • The notation "IT" suggests sub silentio that the OP was not vetted for entry into the ROI.
    – DavidSupportsMonica
    Jul 2, 2018 at 17:45
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    @Ry1234, sub silentio is a legal term that means something is suggested, without that something being expressly said. "ROI" is Republic of Ireland. "Vetted" means "approved." My thought is that the ROI immigration officer at Dublin permitted you to enter the ROI in order to transit to the UK (here, Northern Ireland), but not to enter and stay in the ROI. The handwritten letters on the passport stamp suggests all this without saying so.
    – DavidSupportsMonica
    Jul 2, 2018 at 19:07
  • Thanks, David. I appreciate your answer. I am in the process of applying for a U.K. fiancé visa, do you think this stamp would cause any issues with the ECO? I will be providing my itinerary and boarding passes as well to show that I left.
    – Ry1234
    Jul 2, 2018 at 19:21
  • Your approach to flesh out your itinerary and show your cross-border movements seems reasonable, and I don't see that in this entry to the ROI and transit to Belfast you violated either ROI or UK rules. But I am not an expert in either jurisdiction. Perhaps someone else will contribute here.
    – DavidSupportsMonica
    Jul 2, 2018 at 22:08

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What does it mean?

It probably means "In Transit" to "Northern Ireland" as opposed to visiting the Republic of Ireland.

The need for this sort of annotation is partly because of the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements between the UK and Republic of Ireland which allow for travel across the international border in Ireland without border checks.

Should I be worried about this?

You should not be worried about this marking.

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