Applying for an Irish visa: documents, waiting times and refusals

The short answer

• Who: people from visa-required countries coming to Ireland, for any length of stay.
• Which visa: a ‘C’ visa for up to 90 days (visits, business, short courses), a ‘D’ visa for longer stays (study, work, family).
• How: apply on AVATS, then send the signed summary form, your passport, photos and documents to the office it names.
• Cost: €60 single entry, €100 multiple. Not refunded if you’re refused.
• Wait: about 8 weeks, but some Dublin queues take far longer. Don’t buy tickets until you have a decision.
• Refused: long stay visas can be appealed within 2 months. Visit visas can’t, since 1 June 2026: you apply again.

Plan your visa

Which visa you need

Each person needs their own visa: Ireland doesn’t issue family visas or e-visas. A parent or guardian applies for a child. Some visitors can travel on a UK visa instead, under the Short Stay Visa Waiver Programme or the British-Irish Visa Scheme.

How to apply

1. Fill in the application on AVATS, ISD’s online visa system. Answer every question fully and honestly.
2. Print, sign and date the summary form it creates. It tells you which office to send your application to and how to pay.
3. Pay the fee. For the Dublin visa office, most countries now pay on AVATS and get a payment confirmation email to include.
4. Send your documents with the form, by courier or registered post. For Dublin, that’s within 30 days of creating the application. Put each person’s documents in their own envelope.
5. Wait for the decision, and don’t buy tickets until you have it. Some offices may ask for your fingerprints and photo (biometrics).

Apply from your home country or the country where you live legally. If you’re not a citizen there, show you have at least 3 more months of permission there after you plan to leave Ireland.

The documents

For a visit, ISD lists:

• your passport, valid at least 6 months after you leave Ireland, plus copies of every page of your old passports;
• 2 colour photos, less than 6 months old, with your name and AVATS transaction number on the back;
• a signed application letter: why you’re coming, your dates, where you’ll stay, who pays, and a promise to keep the visa’s conditions and leave on time;
• an invitation letter from anyone you’re visiting, with a copy of their passport or ID (and their IRP card and stamp if they’re not Irish or EU);
• 6 months of bank statements, original or certified by your bank, from whoever pays;
• proof of your ties at home: a letter from your employer and recent payslips, a college letter, family or property;
• every past visa refusal, from any country, with the letter. Leaving one out means refusal.

Documents not in English or Irish need a certified translation. Official documents from outside the EU, such as birth or marriage certificates, must be apostilled or attested. Long stay visas need more, depending on why you’re coming.

You don’t send proof of travel insurance unless asked, but you must have it when you arrive.

Fees

The fee isn’t refunded if you’re refused or withdraw. Offices may add local charges. No fee for the spouse, civil partner or child under 18 of an Irish citizen, qualifying family of EU, EEA or Swiss citizens (such as a spouse or a child under 21), and citizens of some countries, including Indonesia, Morocco, Peru, Serbia and Sri Lanka.

A multiple entry visa is usually only given after two Irish visas used without problems, or for regular business trips. If you’re given a single entry visa instead, the extra €40 isn’t refunded.

How long it takes

ISD says most decisions take about 8 weeks from when the office receives your application. The Dublin visa office decides each visa type in date order, and publishes how far each queue has got every Tuesday. On 29 September 2026, it was deciding:

If you applied through an embassy or another visa office, ask that office: several publish weekly decision lists. To find out if your Dublin application is decided, search for your transaction number in ISD’s weekly list.

Only genuinely urgent cases are sped up: a family member in hospital, a life-threatening situation or a bereavement. Contact the visa team through the Customer Service Portal with evidence, such as a hospital letter.

If you’re refused

You get a letter explaining why, and your passport back.

• Short stay (C) visas: since 1 June 2026, you can’t appeal, except as the family member of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen. Apply again, fixing every reason in the letter.
• Long stay (D) visas: you can appeal once, for free, within 2 months of the date on the letter. Write a signed appeal letter answering each reason, with any new documents. Send your passport only if the letter asks for it.
• False information can mean no appeal and a ban on Irish visas for up to 5 years.

After it’s approved

The visa is a sticker in your passport. It shows whether it’s C or D, the dates you can travel, and how many entries. It lets you travel to Ireland, but the immigration officer at the border decides whether you can enter and how long you can stay, with a landing stamp. Carry copies of your application documents. With a D visa, you then register within 90 days.

Common mix-ups

Common questions

Sources