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If there is another answered question here which addresses my question kindly point it out to me and I'll gladly delete this.

I am an American who is visiting the UK. I am scheduled to travel by bus to Dublin and then fly from Dublin to Athens in the Schengen zone. I gather most of the time there are no immigration checks when doing this by bus and hence ones entry may not be recorded.

I know that Americans do not need a visa to visit Republic of Ireland, however do I have to go to a border post to get my passport stamped? For example although Americans do not require a visa to travel to the UK, they need to go through immigration controls and be granted leave to enter. Is it the same for Ireland, or my leave to enter UK automatically equates leave to enter Ireland?

My exit from Ireland is by air so it will be captured so they will know I was there. Won't there be trouble at the airport when exit controls realize they do not have my proof of entry?

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No problem, you don't need to get any stamps. As long as you can legally enter both the UK and Ireland, all is fine.

Ireland and the UK are part of the Common Travel Area (CTA), which means passengers moving between them are not always checked.

When entering the UK, you're entering the CTA and can travel freely within it. You may want to explicitly state that you intend to visit Ireland.

When leaving Ireland, you're expected to have proof of entry into the CTA. Your entry stamp into the UK will prove this.

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    We were stopped by Irish immigration and they just checked passports no stamp. – user 56513 Jul 10 '17 at 14:03
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Actually non-EU/EFTA citizens are supposed to be stamped when entering Ireland from the UK, though not the reverse.

This is because the visa-free stay in Ireland is 3 months, and in the UK 6 months. The UK doesn't grant separate admission if entering from Ireland, however, so the 3 months granted if entering the CTA through Ireland includes stays in the UK as well.

If entering by air from the UK, rest assured you'll be checked and stamped. Same when entering by Irish Ferries in Dublin as a pedestrian, but if using a vehicle or the London-Dublin bus, the Stena ferry or a bus/train Northern Ireland-Ireland, only spot checks are performed.

In case you're not checked and stamped, you should go to the immigration office in Dublin to get an entry stamp, or, if entering from Northern Ireland and being able to stop by in Dundalk, to the police (garda) station in Dundalk.

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  • Enforcement of this seems rather lax. I got no such stamp entering from northern Ireland and had no difficulty exiting via Dublin a few weeks later. – Roddy of the Frozen Peas Feb 5 '18 at 4:33
  • @RoddyoftheFrozenPeas That may well be! Should mention that during checks entering from Nortehrn Ireland, stamps aren't issued – Crazydre Feb 5 '18 at 9:11
  • Any references available? – user 56513 Feb 5 '18 at 22:17
  • @Paul E-Mail correspondence with the Irish Garda (Police). Shall I upload screenshots – Crazydre Feb 6 '18 at 0:04

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