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My partner is a Sri Lankan national with a Sri Lankan passport and we will be returning to Sri Lanka from the UK on December 30 via Dublin and Abu Dhabi. He has a full 5 year multiple entry visa for the UK. We will only be in Dublin airport for 1 hour whilst transferring between an Air Lingus and an Etihad flight. I have read elsewhere that if the transfer between flights is effected on the same day, an Irish transit visa is unnecessary.

Can anyone confirm this or confirm if a transit visa is required.

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  • It would help if you stated your own nationality.
    – MJ Walsh
    Oct 8, 2014 at 21:11

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The bad news is that Sri Lanka is on the "blacklist" of countries whose citizens need visas even for immediate transfers.

Transit Visa

Nationals of the following states or territorial entities are required to be in possession of a valid Irish transit visa when arriving at a port in the State for purposes of passing through the port in order to travel to another state.

Sri Lanka

This appears to apply even if your partner has a long-term UK visa:

If you are a citizen of a country whose nationals need a visa to enter Ireland and you have a valid UK visa or residence permit, you may be required to have a valid visa before you arrive in Ireland.

Which means that if I'm reading the CTA rules right, your partner would not need a visa to enter Ireland from the UK for as long as he likes, but he still needs one to transit from Abu Dhabi via Ireland to the UK! I'd recommend checking with the Irish embassy, because that sounds pretty crazy even by the low standards of immigration bureaucracy.

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  • Does that apply for arrivals within the CTA (Common Travel Area between the UK and RoI) though?
    – Gagravarr
    Sep 25, 2014 at 10:20
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    @Gagravarr: Very good question. My understanding, though, is that UK visas generally do not grant Ireland entry, and Sri Lanka is not listed in the following exemption scheme either: irishembassy.cn/visa.php?eid=24
    – lambshaanxy
    Sep 25, 2014 at 11:03

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