Ireland Visa Documents for UK Residents: Full Checklist

TL;DR

An Irish visit visa file from the UK has a fixed core: the signed AVATS summary form, your passport and every old one, two photos, proof of UK permission valid three months beyond your return, a signed letter of application, bank statements, an employer letter with payslips, accommodation bookings or an invitation letter, and any previous refusal letters. Originals only, in English or with a certified translation. The fee is paid by you, and the visa office decides.

Where this list comes from

Two official lists apply to a London application. Immigration Service Delivery's how-to-apply page sets the national requirements for a short-stay C visit visa. The Embassy of Ireland in London adds its own visit visa checklist, dated November 2022 and still the one linked from the Embassy's visas page in October 2026. Where the two differ, we follow the stricter one, because the officer reading your file can rely on either.

The checklist opens with a warning worth repeating: all documents listed must be included, incomplete applications will not be accepted, and everything must be original unless it says otherwise. Letters from companies and colleges must be on headed paper with a full address, a landline number, a website, an email address that is not Yahoo or Hotmail, a named signatory and a handwritten signature. Nothing on a USB stick or a file-sharing link is read.

The core set

• Application Summary Form from AVATS, printed, signed and dated.
• Passport, valid for at least six months after your planned departure from Ireland, with at least two blank visa pages. Every previous passport you hold, or a written explanation and any police report if one is lost. Photocopies of your bio page and of every visa and stamp in every passport, for all travel, not only UK and Irish.
• Two photos to ISD's photograph rules: 35 to 38 mm by 45 to 50 mm, colour, less than six months old, plain white or light grey background, neutral expression, your name and AVATS transaction number in block capitals on the back.
• UK permission. The checklist asks for evidence of your permission to reside in the UK valid for at least three months after your intended departure from Ireland, and a photocopy. ISD says the same: at least three months' permission to remain in the country you apply from after the date you plan to leave Ireland. The checklist names a stamp, sticker or BRP; we add the eVisa share code printout because that is what most people now hold.
• Fee, paid or exempted. The London office charges £51 for a single journey and £86 for multiple journeys. Waiver-programme nationals who live in the UK, Sri Lankans and a few others pay nothing, and may be asked to show why.

The letter of application

ISD wants a typed or handwritten letter, signed and dated, with your full name and postal address, the reason you want to come to Ireland, your arrival and departure dates, where you will stay, and who is paying. It must also carry three commitments: that you will obey the conditions of the visa in full, that you will not rely on public services or become a burden on the State, and that you will leave Ireland before your permission expires.

If you are visiting friends, add their names and addresses, how you know each other, evidence of the relationship such as messages or photographs together, and the names and addresses of any family you have in Ireland or elsewhere in the EU, EEA or Switzerland. If you are visiting family, add every relative who lives in Ireland, whether or not you will see them, with birth or marriage certificates to prove the relationship and evidence of contact.

Our desk drafts this letter with you from your answers, in plain English, and checks that every date and name in it matches the AVATS form, the bookings and the invitation. Inconsistency between documents is the quickest way to lose an officer's confidence.

Money

The London checklist asks for your bank statements for the three months immediately before the application, showing your most recent transactions, any salary or regular income, your current address and enough money to cover the trip. They must be original or printed and stamped by a branch of your bank. ISD's general guidance goes further, asking for six months of transactions on headed paper or an internet statement officially certified by your bank, plus a written explanation of any large movements of money. Our desk asks for six months and the explanation, so the file meets both.

Two sentences from the official pages matter more than any number. There is no minimum amount of finance for approving or refusing an application; the officer decides on your circumstances. And lump sum lodgements made shortly before your application will not be considered. A statement that suddenly fills up the week before you apply does not help and may hurt.

If a spouse, partner or relative in the UK is paying, they provide a signed letter undertaking to support you, their own statements to the same standard, and proof of the relationship. If a host in Ireland is paying, ISD asks for their estimate of costs in euro, their statement, three payslips, a tax summary and an employer letter.

Work, study and the reasons you will come back

The officer must be satisfied that you have strong family, economic and social ties to the UK and will leave Ireland on time. ISD's own examples are the evidence to send.

• Employed: your three most recent payslips and an employer letter on headed paper stating how long you have worked there, the dates you will be away, the date you are expected back and your annual salary. The checklist says letters should be dated within four weeks of the application.
• Student: a letter from your school or college naming the course, how long you have studied, how much remains and that you will return after the visit.
• Self-employed: a signed letter from your accountant, solicitor or tax adviser, recent HMRC correspondence, the letter of incorporation and three months of business bank statements.
• Family and property: birth certificates for dependent children who stay behind, your marriage certificate, a tenancy agreement or title deed.

The trip itself

For a hotel, guesthouse or rental, include the booking confirmation showing your name, the address and the exact dates. For a stay with family or friends, ISD wants a signed invitation letter that gives the reason for the invitation, the dates, how they know you, their full address with Eircode if you are staying with them, and a clear colour copy of their passport or ID card. If the host is not an EEA national, add a copy of their Irish Residence Permit and the permission stamp in their passport. One letter per household.

The checklist is explicit that bookings must have correct contact details so the office can verify them. An unverifiable document reads as a false one.

Children under 18

A child needs their own AVATS form and their own pack: the long-form birth certificate naming both parents and a copy, a school letter or a GP registration letter, the written consent of both parents or sole-guardianship papers, and original photo ID of both parents with signatures. The visa shows whether the child travels accompanied or unaccompanied.

Previous refusals, translations and originals

Declare every visa refusal for any country, with the original or a copy of the decision letter, and any deportation, refusal of entry or overstay anywhere, with the papers and an explanation. Both ISD and the Embassy say that concealment means refusal, with no appeal and a possible five-year bar.

Anything not in English or Irish needs a full certified translation, sent with the original. Birth, marriage, death and divorce certificates issued outside the EEA must be apostilled or attested by that country's foreign ministry. Marriage, birth and death certificates are returned after processing; list any other original you want back and include a photocopy of it.

Insurance

Evidence of medical or travel insurance does not need to be provided with the application, but the officer may request it before deciding, and you must have it when you arrive in Ireland and show it on request. We never sell or arrange it.

What our desk does with all this

Everything above is yours to gather, and you can do it yourself for the official fees alone: £51 or £86 for the visa, or nothing if you are exempt, plus the VFS service fee, all paid by you directly. The Bundler puts your scans in order and the Compressor brings them to size, free.

For a £99 service fee, plus £69 for each additional applicant on the same trip up to five, our desk checks each document against both official lists, tells you within 24 hours of your complete upload exactly what is missing or weak, drafts the letter of application with you, completes the AVATS form for you to check and sign, and books your VFS appointment in your own name within 3 working days of your complete file, subject to availability, or your fee back. Cancel before we start work and you get a full refund. The pack goes to the centre in your hands, the fingerprints are yours, and the visa office alone decides. Start at the plan step, or read the full guide first. findmyvisa.co.uk is run by WayaNerd Ltd, company number 16269713.