Irish Republic thru Belfast

Hello,
I was in UK with a visit visa and towards the end of my stay I went to visit my brother in Ireland.

On my way back I was stopped at the airport in belfast ( I was flying straight back to London Heathrow to catch my flight back home).

The officials asked a lot of questions, took my fingerprints,photo etc and I was given a paper stating that I have been 'asked to leave' even though I was on my way out.

I'm just wondering if this is the same as being deported? Will it affect my chances of getting a UK visa in future?

Does anyone have any info on this? Thanks...

Did you overstay your U.K. visa?

If not, I can't see why you should have had any problems. A U.K. visa allows you to visit Northern Ireland (same country) but not the Republic of Ireland (different country).

JAJ wrote:Did you overstay your U.K. visa?

If not, I can't see why you should have had any problems. A U.K. visa allows you to visit Northern Ireland (same country) but not the Republic of Ireland (different country).

No I didnt overstay my UK visa, the main issue was that I didnt have a visa for the Rep of Ireland, so it meant that I fraudulently used my UK visa as a means to sneak into Ireland

Sunnydee wrote:Hello,
I was in UK with a visit visa and towards the end of my stay I went to visit my brother in Ireland.

On my way back I was stopped at the airport in belfast ( I was flying straight back to London Heathrow to catch my flight back home).

The officials asked a lot of questions, took my fingerprints,photo etc and I was given a paper stating that I have been 'asked to leave' even though I was on my way out.

I'm just wondering if this is the same as being deported? Will it affect my chances of getting a UK visa in future?

Does anyone have any info on this? Thanks...

How did you enter the RoI without a valid visa? Did you not realise that you needed a seperate visa to visit Ireland? I suppose you would have problems getting a visa to visit Ireland again although it should not have a huge bearing on your future visits to the UK, provided you don`t overstay your UK visa..

thirdwave wrote:How did you enter the RoI without a valid visa? Did you not realise that you needed a seperate visa to visit Ireland? I suppose you would have problems getting a visa to visit Ireland again although it should not have a huge bearing on your future visits to the UK, provided you don`t overstay your UK visa..

This is no routine immigration control between the UK and Ireland. Therefore it is possible, often, to cross the border without anyone checking your passport. This is all very well, but the two countries, while forming a common travel area, don't have common immigration or visa policies. So problems can arise for a person with permission to enter one country but not the other, notably for people who need a visa.

I'm not clear, though, who issued the original poster with the paper stating that he or she had been "asked to leave" — was this the Republic of Ireland authorities or the UK authorities? What did the paper say, exactly? I take it that it was loose-leaf, and not an entry in the passport?

Christophe wrote:

thirdwave wrote:How did you enter the RoI without a valid visa? Did you not realise that you needed a seperate visa to visit Ireland? I suppose you would have problems getting a visa to visit Ireland again although it should not have a huge bearing on your future visits to the UK, provided you don`t overstay your UK visa..

This is no routine immigration control between the UK and Ireland. Therefore it is possible, often, to cross the border without anyone checking your passport. This is all very well, but the two countries, while forming a common travel area, don't have common immigration or visa policies. So problems can arise for a person with permission to enter one country but not the other, notably for people who need a visa.

I'm not clear, though, who issued the original poster with the paper stating that he or she had been "asked to leave" — was this the Republic of Ireland authorities or the UK authorities? What did the paper say, exactly? I take it that it was loose-leaf, and not an entry in the passport?

Christophe, what you mentioned only holds true when one is travelling by road between NI and RoI. There are immigration checks at Dublin airport as well as at ferry ports. Infact, anyone arriving in Dublin from the UK has to pass the immigration desk even if they are catching a connection within the UK(atleast that used to be the case until a few years ago)

thirdwave wrote:Christophe, what you mentioned only holds true when one is travelling by road between NI and RoI. There are immigration checks at Dublin airport as well as at ferry ports. Infact, anyone arriving in Dublin from the UK has to pass the immigration desk even if they are catching a connection within the UK(atleast that used to be the case until a few years ago)

Yes, I know that there often are checks now, particularly conducted by the Irish authorities.

Nevertheless, "officially" the UK and Ireland make up a common travel area, and this can cause problems, as has obviously happened here.

Christophe, what you mentioned only holds true when one is travelling by road between NI and RoI.

Perhaps the OP was travelling from Belfast to ROI and back via road travel? The OP stated they were stopped at Belfast airport on the way back to London. I know there have been increasing checks in Belfast, and even a few cases of detention if they think the UK visa holder *might* be planning to enter the ROI via Northern Ireland.

I am puzzled by what's happened here.

As so often on this forum, incomplete info was given by the OP.

Was he arriving by air from the Republic? (I don't know if there are any such flights). If so, it's possible that he was dealt with as an arriving passenger, and the IO took the view that his disregard for Irish immigration requirements meant that he might overstay in the UK, so cancelled the remainder of his visa and refused him entry.

If he arrived via a land border and was merely seeking to embark, then he must have been dealt with as an illegal entrant. But if he still had time on his visa, I don't understand how he could be an illegal entrant to the UK. For those who are interested, Para 2.6.1 of the Enforcement Manual on the BIA website includes a flowchart. This indicates that if someone enters from the ROI having been illegally there, they are "subject to control" i.e. they require leave to enter. But if the OP had "continuing leave" conferred by his visa he could not be an illegal entrant.

In the absence of more detailed info this is all speculation. But IF the OP is a Visa National, AND he crossed the land border to re-enter the UK AND when he was encountered at Belfast Airport his UK visa had not expired, I believe he should seek professional advice as to the legality of the papers that were served on him, and also consider appealing (there are rights of appeal from abroad against service of IS151A)- because the bottom line is that he will find it much more difficult to get a visa in the future.

Of course, if his UK visa expired during his stay in the Republic, his goose is cooked, because when he came back to Northern Ireland he entered without leave in breach of S24.1(a) of the 1971 Act, and is an illegal entrant.

thirdwave wrote:

Sunnydee wrote:Hello,
I was in UK with a visit visa and towards the end of my stay I went to visit my brother in Ireland.

On my way back I was stopped at the airport in belfast ( I was flying straight back to London Heathrow to catch my flight back home).

The officials asked a lot of questions, took my fingerprints,photo etc and I was given a paper stating that I have been 'asked to leave' even though I was on my way out.

I'm just wondering if this is the same as being deported? Will it affect my chances of getting a UK visa in future?

Does anyone have any info on this? Thanks...

How did you enter the RoI without a valid visa? Did you not realise that you needed a seperate visa to visit Ireland?

So what happened to the Common Travel Area agreement?

AlexCh wrote:So what happened to the Common Travel Area agreement?

Contrary to common knowledge, the CTA is only applicable to Irish and UK/Manx/Channel Island citizens. Everyone else (including EU/EEA, but technically a formality) must be able to meet criteria for entry.

RobinLondon wrote:

AlexCh wrote:So what happened to the Common Travel Area agreement?

Contrary to common knowledge, the CTA is only applicable to Irish and UK/Manx/Channel Island citizens. Everyone else (including EU/EEA, but technically a formality) must be able to meet criteria for entry.

That's what I always thought - the CTA is an early Schengen!

Wanderer wrote:That's what I always thought - the CTA is an early Schengen!

In fact it's not like Schengen. If it was, a U.K. visa would allow admission to the Republic of Ireland and vice versa.

Wanderer wrote:

RobinLondon wrote:

AlexCh wrote:So what happened to the Common Travel Area agreement?

Contrary to common knowledge, the CTA is only applicable to Irish and UK/Manx/Channel Island citizens. Everyone else (including EU/EEA, but technically a formality) must be able to meet criteria for entry.

That's what I always thought - the CTA is an early Schengen!

Does not look like this - Schengen visa obtained on one country allows you to travel to all countries in the area - but if previous messages are correct, British visa does not allow you to travel to Rep. of Ireland.

Up to this date I was absolutely sure that British visa allows you to travel to Rep. of Ireland - moreover it was partly confirmed by my own experience in 2001: before I moved to the UK, I worked in Ireland and had Irish work permit and working visa. In the end of my contract in Dublin for a short period of 2 weeks I had both Irish (almost expired) and British (recently obtained) visas in my Russian passport. It took me two flights to move from Dublin to London, on my last flight - when I arrived from London to Dublin to collect my remaining stuff, I was the only non-EU passenger on the flight and as I was standing alone in front of the Irish immigration control I realised that I could not find my passport - I knew it was somewhere in my bag but I just could not find it among of all other papers... After 5 minutes the immigration officer got bored looking at my efforts and he just asked me about my nationality and the reason for the visit - I told him that I was Russian and I was going to fly back to London tomorrow and after that he just waived me through the control without asking for any ID or even for my return ticket. I assumed that it was because of the Common Travel Area agreement...

I believe you were "asked to leave" as part of the BIA's campaign to improve its removal statistics.