Entering the UK through Republic of Ireland

[Emmac23]

Hi there!

I’ve been granted my Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa and my vignette is to enter between 1st December and 30th December. My flight is into Dublin and then we will be driving up into Northern Ireland. Will this be an issue because technically I won’t be entering the UK through a port. We are going to be flying from Belfast to London on a small trip but is that concidered an internal flight? Or will I need to book a flight from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland to have a record of me entering the UK for visa purposes?

[The Station Agent]

If you enter first via Ireland then you get an Irish entry stamp. Further travel (by road or air) to Belfast or London is counted as internal, hence not subject to a check or stamp.

[CR001]

Note also that in order to get your BRP card at the post office, you have to present your passport with your 30 day visa showing your date of entry stamp, which is what activates your visa.

[Emmac23]

Ok awesome, this makes me feel a lot better about things - really didn't want to have to fork out extra money to fly to Spain or somewhere and then back in.

Another thing is that I'm entering into the Republic 3 days before the date on my vignette as I'm doing some travelling there before going up to Northern Ireland. Is this going to be an issue that the entry date coming into the Republic will be before the date on my vignette? Technically by entering Ireland I'm not entering the UK but I'm not really sure of specifics of things between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

[CR001]

Your UK visa WILL NOT be stamped by the Republic of Ireland immigration. Your UK visa is irrelevant to the Irish authorities.

You must get UK immigration to stamped your entry to the UK.

[Emmac23]

Ok if I’m flying in the Republic of Ireland and driving into Northern Ireland how do I get my visa stamped by UK immigration - from what I understand there are no checkpoints between Ireland and Northern Ireland?

[The Station Agent]

There's no simple solution to this passport stamp issue because they may refuse to stamp you even if you go to Belfast airport. It's also impacting bands on tour; their UK work permits can't be validated at the border between Ireland and the UK, so they're technically working without the correct status when they get here.

However, there could be a saving grace here. It's possible that, because you'll have a visa in your passport, you could still be able to collect your BRP when you get to the UK. This is because you have an entry visa.

The Ireland Control Order 1972 says you can't work here if you enter via Ireland unless you had a valid UK visa before you entered Ireland. You DO have a valid UK entry visa, so in theory you should be OK to collect your BRP and be able to work in the UK (as per the YMS rules).

People entering to work visa-free (such as bands on tour) are being caught out by the lack of UK entry stamp from Ireland; but you may be able to dodge that because you have a visa in your passport.