Visafar / UK visa / China / Ireland
Can Chinese passport holders with a UK visa enter Ireland?
Yes. With a valid UK visa, Chinese passport holders can enter Ireland visa-free for up to 90 days. On the passport alone they would need a visa.
- Entry
- Visa free
- Longest stay
- 90 days
- Passport alone
- Visa required
- Checked
- 24 September 2026
Conditions
- Short-Stay Visa Waiver Programme. A UK short-stay (‘C’) visit visa; transit visas and marriage/civil-partnership visitor visas do not qualify, and a UK ETA cannot be used.
- You must first land in the UK and be admitted on that visa; Ireland cannot be your first entry. Each new period of UK leave needs a new entry to the UK first.
- Stay in Ireland: up to 90 days or the time left on your UK permission, whichever is shorter.
- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Peru: only a UK visa issued before 1 February 2024 qualifies (the UK now issues ETAs to these nationals instead).
- Time-limited: the programme runs until 31 October 2026 unless extended by a new order.
Official source: www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-visit-ireland/short-stay-visa-waiver · Legal basis: Immigration Act 2004 (Visas) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 473 of 2014), art. 3(d) and Schedule 3, as amended (incl. S.I. No. 538 of 2021)
More countries a UK visa opens for Chinese passports
Not travel advice. From Visafar's unlock rule for Ireland, read at the official source above. Rules change without notice and the border officer decides; confirm with Ireland's official source before you travel. Page built 2026-09-30.