Nationals of South Africa will need to obtain a visa before traveling to Ireland starting on Wednesday, including a transit visa if they are passing through to another destination.
The move will also apply to nationals of Botswana. The Department of Justice will set up a ‘South Africa desk’ in the Dublin Visa Office and three Visa Applications Centres in South Africa with Global VFS to process applications. They say the move is meant to align Ireland closer with the Schengen Area and bring South Africa in line with the UK in terms of visa requirements
Botswana and South Africa are designated safe countries of origin for International Protection purposes, but a significant number of International Protection applications have been received from nationals of these countries in recent years.