Ireland visa delays have travel agents and their clients at their wits end, compromising tourism, family reunions and the potential crowds that would have followed the Springboks for their Ireland test matches in November.
In July 2024 , Ireland suddenly implemented a visa requirement for South Africans, causing an uproar among agents and South African travellers.
From bad to worseIn February this year, the Embassy of Ireland in Pretoria, advised applicants that tourist visas would take six to eight weeks to process. By May, this was increased to 12 weeks and, on July 1, it announced that it would take approximately 14 weeks.
The visa application centre is saying travellers can only apply three months prior to their departure. But three months is not long enough, because visas are now taking longer than three months to be issued, points out Heather Lavery of The Travelling Agent.
Huge backlogJim OCallaghan , Irish Minister of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, in response to a complaint submitted to the Ministry of Justice, explained that in July 2024 the Dublin Visa Office established a dedicated South Africa desk, separate to the Ministrys standard Visa Division, to process applications from residents of South Africa.