I understand that the Afghan and Indian Cricket teams are due to play a number of matches in Northern Ireland this summer. Afghan and Indian passport holders are subject to visa requirements in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. They are both also subject to Irish transit visa requirements thus any Indian or Afghan passport holder who seeks to transit the State to attend the games will need to obtain an Irish transit visa. Visas are granted on the basis that the applicant meets the appropriate criteria.
The British and Irish Visa Scheme (BIVS) allows certain people to travel in Ireland and the UK on a single short stay visa, provided the visa is endorsed with 'BIVS'. Under this visa scheme, some Indian passport holders who hold appropriate UK visitor visas and enter the UK as a visitor, can travel onwards to Ireland, without the need of a separate Irish visa, once they are inside a valid period of leave to remain in the UK. Some Indian nationals may also apply for an Irish BIVS visa, which allows them to travel to the UK after entering Ireland.
As the Deputy will be aware, there is close cooperation between the Irish and UK authorities at both the strategic and operational level to protect the Common Travel Area (CTA) from abuses by individuals not entitled to avail of the arrangement and to facilitate legitimate travel within the CTA.
