My niece is relocating to London for work. She has a Tier 2 Visa that needs to be validated upon entering England. Her flight to London has a connection through Shannon Airport, Ireland. Does this present a problem for activating her visa? Her concern is that she will be stamped in Ireland rather than London.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8130 posts
Yes, potentially. While the UK and Ireland have a Common Travel Area agreement, at least for the time being, most immigration activity between them is removed, so her visa may not be properly validated. She could have the same issue entering at a UK airport and opting to use electronic entry.
Probably the best advice would be to contact the UK Embassy where she obtained the Visa and get specific instructions.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5467 posts
If it does need to be 'validated' at the UK Border then this cannot be done if entering the Common Travel Area via the Republic of Ireland.
However, I think there is doubt over whether this is the process, since as I understand it for Tier 2 there should be a vignette in her passport and this has a validity date associated with it already, eg entry can't be more than 14 days before the date in the sponsorship certificate. This vignette enables entry and the collection of the Biometric Residence Permit from the appropriate Post Office or Alternative Collection Location. So I guess another check through the documents is worthwhile.