Airport and entry questions - EU, UK, Ireland

Also, my flight arrives AMS at 10:15AM and I depart to DUB at 11:55AM. Since the flights were booked as one trip (Delta) I have to hope that this gives me enough time to get through passport control and on to the second leg of our journey. Any recent intel?

Where does your flight to AMS originate? If you are flying from the U.S. to AMS and on to DUB, you won’t need to go through passport control in AMS since you are not entering the Schengen zone. Passport control will take plce in Dublin.

At AMS, you simply walk off the plane, stay in the Non-Schengen terminal and walk to your DUB gate. No passport control, no security, just walk to the gate. An Hour and forty minutes is plenty of time, even enough for a cup of coffee.

Once at DUB, you go through passport control for Ireland, and essentially, also the UK, due to the Common Travel Area.

Flying to MAN, you go through the normal security, but there will (should not) be any immigration/passport check either in DUB or MAN. In Manchester, you simply walk off the plane and out of the airport.

Should add, while obviously you need the ETA, unless Irish security in Dublin has access to the UK system, your passport will never be scanned to verify that you have it.

Thank you both for your quick replies. I am flying from SLC to AMS but in the past have always stayed there or traveled to another Schengen zone country, so I didn't realize I could stay in a "non-Schengen" terminal to transit to Ireland.

More questions -

Is there border/passport control when passing from Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland and back by car?

If there is no passport control when I travel between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland or between DUB and MAN how will this affect the amount of time I am allowed to stay in either region? I am dreaming (yes, it is truly fantasy at this point) of remaining outside of the US for an extended period, and I understand that Ireland will allow a maximum stay of 90 days out of 180 (as do the Schengen zone countries) and that the the UK will allow me to stay for 6 months out of 12.

There is no border control between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

There is no border control between the Ireland and Northern Ireland.

If you enter the CTA in Ireland you get 90 days; enter in the UK and you get 6 months.

So after 91 days in Ireland and you then decide to go to the UK you will be overstaying.

Yes, entering Ireland first, shortens your allotted time in the CTA. Not sure if there is an option to separately document your entry to the UK such as the Manchester airport having an immigration office or somewhere else you can go. Other than that, if you were to get serious, you could always day trip to Paris or Brussels on the train, when you re-enter the UK, you get your 6 months.

What Paul said is correct and I had an Irish immigration officer tell me this. (I didn't even ask.)

If you enter the UK from any country besides Ireland, you get 6 months. However, if you enter via Ireland, you get the right to stqy in both Ireland and the UK but for only 90 daysl

Well, this seems rather odd. I suppose if I were to fly to Ireland through LHR instead of AMS that would do the trick?

I will also be visiting family in Sweden and Italy if I end up extending my stay, so all my bases should be covered. Thanks for all the tips!

If you flew USA-LHR-DUB, you would go through both UK and Irish immigration and would still only get 90 days in Ireland.

Strange.....yes. But that's the way it is.

Since you are planning on visiting a Schengen area, then it should not be a problem, as long as you do it within your original 90 days allowed by Ireland. When you return to the UK, you get a new 6 month allowance for the UK, no rule on time out of country.

Thank you for this additional info - I love this forum for all of the amazing people and your willingness to help!

Your stay in Ireland has nothing to do with your stay in Schengen. They are two different things.

However, if you want a six month visa in the UK, you can't enter from Ireland. Then it's only 90 days.

So, to maximize your time, I would suggest 90 days or less in Ireland, then 90 days or less in Schengen, then up to 180 days in the UK, then repeat. Or 90-90-90 in each (Actually, don't plan the entire 90 days. Make it a couple days less just in case of ill health, strikes, natural disasters or political unrest. Overstay your 90 days for any reason and you can get into big trouble.

Not sure if I was clear, but the point I was trying to make is if the OP enters Ireland and gets 90 days, and during that time then goes to the UK, he is limited to that original 90 day span. If the OP then leaves the UK (before the 90 days) to visit family in Sweden, for say a few days even, then returns to the UK directly, the OP now gets a fresh 6 Months in the UK.

Thanks again Paul - that was clear, even though it's odd. ;o)