Post
by llp » Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:24 pm
Thanks for the information, but I am confused why you wrote the following:
Such questions aren’t really questions, especially coming from an Irish person’s point of view. UK and Ireland are two countries and each has their own immigration rules and issues different visas.
In my opinion they were reasonable questions (and observations), and nowhere in my post did I suggest that the UK & Ireland weren't separate countries with their own immigration rules.
But here's the rub, not many other countries have a 310 mile open border, with 268 unmanned crossings (and those that do e.g. USA, guess what, they have a massive problem with illegal migration)
The whole purpose of a visa is to weed out the people who are likely to overstay (or claim asylum), but as my wife has entered Ireland dozens of times during the period 2015-19, and in addition now has a job, a home, free healthcare, free prescriptions, subsidised dental treatment, and a family in NI (with a child at school), her chances of overstaying are zero.
She also has a USA 10-year visa - Surely it is obvious, based on the 10-15,000 illegal Irish in the USA (from a pop. of 5M) versus probably less than a hundred illegal Americans in Ireland (from a pop. of 331M), that the USA is a much more attractive place to overstay?
Therefore Ireland, could easily look at allowing entry for USA 10-year visa holders (like the 49 countries that already do), based on the fact that if you can go to America....er....you will go to America. Or Turkey, who allow visas on arrival for Schengen, British & Irish residents/visa holders.
The unique position of NI should mean that exceptions are made - My wife is in the absurd position that "after three years continuous living on the island of Ireland", she will be able to apply for Irish passport, but until the day she gets it, she won't be able to set foot in the majority of her adopted "homeland"!
The only people Ireland are hurting are themselves; anyone in NI who wishes to travel to Dublin will do so, with only a tiny risk of being caught, however, those who don't want to take the gamble will remain in the UK (along with any money they would have spent).
And before you say "just apply for a visa" - we only found out about the event very recently, therefore there isn't enough time, and we have no desire to spend €60 for the privilege of 12 hours in Dublin, nor do we wish to assemble the absurd amount of paperwork required.
In my view, the UK & Irish government have a tacit understanding, that as people can travel freely between the countries, the visa process must be broadly similar - why else did Ireland not join the Schengen treaty, whereas another island, Malta did?
The fact that the CTA still exists, is also further proof of this "understanding", so why not allow free movement between Britain and Ireland for all, which would be beneficial to both countries, with probably only a tiny risk of additional over-stayers. (For the people who are currently illegal in either country, if they decide to travel they will do so anyway via NI!)
The analogous situation is the Schengen area, where anyone (legal or not), can freely travel across the European land mass.
BTW, if I we were living in Ireland, and wanting to travel to Belfast, then I would be saying the same thing about the British government (the only difference being, that after three years living in Ireland, my wife wouldn't qualify for a British passport!)
