S.I. No. 640/2021 - Immigration Act 2004 (Visas) (Amendment) (No. 4) Order 2021

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 30th November, 2021.

I, HELEN MCENTEE, Minister for Justice, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 17 of the Immigration Act 2004 (No. 1 of 2004) (as adapted by the Justice and Equality (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020 ( S.I. No. 452 of 2020 )), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Immigration Act 2004 (Visas) (Amendment) (No. 4) Order 2021.

2. This Order comes into operation on 27 November 2021.

3. The Immigration Act 2004 (Visas) Order 2014 ( S.I. No. 473 of 2014 ) is amended –

(a) in Schedule 1, by the deletion of “Botswana”, “Lesotho”, “South Africa”, and “Swaziland”, and

(b) in Schedule 5, by the insertion of –

(i) “Botswana” after “Albania”,

(ii) “Eswatini” after “Eritrea”,

(iii) “Lesotho” after “Lebanon”,

(iv) “Namibia” after “Moldova”, and

(v) “South Africa” after “Somalia”.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

26 November, 2021.

HELEN MCENTEE,

Minister for Justice.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This is not part of the Statutory Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

This Order further amends Schedules 1 and 5 to the Immigration Act 2004 (Visas) Order 2014. The Order provides that nationals of Botswana, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Lesotho, and South Africa are required to be in possession of a valid Irish visa when landing in the State. The Order also provides that nationals of Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa are required to be in possession of a valid Irish transit visa when arriving at a port in the State for purposes of passing through the port in order to travel to another state.