Passport Control - Dublin Airport

mick_murphy

Hey Guys,

I have a non-EU citizen friend who is after staying passed her allowed time in Ireland by a few days. It was not done on purpose, it was more out of ignorance (and stupidity) being honest. She is worried about security checking her passport when she leaves Ireland and noticing that she is departing after the date stamped on her passport. She does plan on coming back soon (maybe next year), and she is really nervous about the fuss this will cause. She's not great with travelling as it is.

Does anyone if the staff a Dublin airport will check the date on her passport when she is going through security? I've never noticed that looking at anything other than the ID page on mine, but I am an Irish citizen.

My friend is thankful for any advice.

coylemj

The check in Dublin airport for departing passengers is done by the airlines to make sure that you are the person named on the ticket, it is not an official passport check. For flights to the UK (most airlines except Ryanair) you don't even need to show a passport, most photo id cards will do.

BuffyBot

Security has nothing to do with checking passports

The airline will look at it when she checks-in, but to confirm her ID and see if it is valid for her travel *to* her destination.

mick_murphy

Thanks for the help guys. She is travelling to France for a few days, then back to Canada so the country she is travelling to after Ireland is fine. So from my understanding there is no immigration checks leaving Ireland. When she goes through security to get the the departures areas the passport "checks" done there are only to confirm that she is the passport/ticket holder.

therecklessone

Is there a chance she'll face awkward questions on entering France though? Are they likely to see the date of her visa issue in Ireland and question why she overstayed her visit here? Might that lead them to refuse entry to France?

Make sure she has proof of travel documents, and it would help if she has evidence of a job or family life to return to in Canada.

ProudDUB

therecklessone wrote: »

Is there a chance she'll face awkward questions on entering France though? Are they likely to see the date of her visa issue in Ireland and question why she overstayed her visit here? Might that lead them to refuse entry to France?

That would be my concern too. OP, what airline is she flying to France on? Does she have any other visas that allow her to travel to France, or other EU countries? Or was she planning on using the expired Irish visa, to cover her for visits to other EU countries?

I generally use my US passport when I travel. If I fly on Ryanair, I have to go to their Visa check desk before I go thru security. Anyone flying on a non EU passport has to do this. When you are there, they check that your passport has the necessary visa in it to travel to the country that you are going to. If it does, they stamp your boarding pass and you are ok to travel. If you do not have that stamp, you can not travel, as you are not allowed board the plane with a non EU passport, if you do not have this stamp on your boarding card.

Ryanair do all this before you travel. They don't leave it up to the border police in other countries to sort it out. I presume that this is because Ryanair don't want to be stuck with having to transport passengers back to where they came from, if they are refused entry into their destination.

If her Irish visa was proof that she was legally entitled to be in Ireland (and therefore the rest of the EU) then once it has expired, she may no longer legally entitled to be in the rest of the EU too. That may be a problem once she gets to France, unless she has a visa that covers her for France specifically. If she flies on Aer Lingus/Air France, it may not be an issue until she actually gets to France. But if she is flying on Ryanair, it may be an issue before she leaves.

coylemj

mick_murphy wrote: »

Thanks for the help guys. She is travelling to France for a few days, then back to Canada so the country she is travelling to after Ireland is fine. So from my understanding there is no immigration checks leaving Ireland. When she goes through security to get the the departures areas the passport "checks" done there are only to confirm that she is the passport/ticket holder.

It would be helpful to tell us (1) what airline she will be flying with (to France) and (2) what country issued her passport.

ProudDub has given you the issues that may arise with Ryanair and I can tell you that Aer Lingus will ask to see her passport to make sure that she will not be refused entry because if she is, they will be fined by the French immigration people and will have to bring her back to Dublin.

I'm not sure if the French are more strict than other countries but myself and a colleague had day return tickets to fly to CDG on business a few years ago. When we met in the airport, he informed me that his passport had expired but we went to the check-in desk anyway to see if we could wing (pun intended) it. The Aer Lingus lady said he couldn't fly. I pointed out that in the mornings the business folk typically held their passports in the air and were waved through and that in the worst case, if he was refused entry, he already had a return ticket for later the same day so wasn't it worth risking it? She said 'no' because the airline would be fined and she would get her ass kicked for letting him through so there was no way he could fly.

If your friend's right of entry to the EU is based on the Irish visa then there may be a problem flying to France, unless her passport allows her free entry to France without a visa.

Yamanoto

I would have thought too that there's some mechanism in place to electronically flag those who overstay their visa - meaning any future application will likely be a tortuous process.

Her carelessness on this occasion may not just impact entry to EU States, but could potentially have far wider implications on future travel across the world.

coylemj

Yamanoto wrote: »

Her carelessness on this occasion may not just impact entry to EU States, but could potentially have far wider implications on future travel across the world.

That would require all immigration services across the world to be linked up to a common database which is clearly not the case. The only transnational system that I'm aware of is the one in place across the countries which have signed up to the Schengen agreement.

therecklessone

Yamanoto wrote: »

I would have thought too that there's some mechanism in place to electronically flag those who overstay their visa - meaning any future application will likely be a tortuous process.

Her carelessness on this occasion may not just impact entry to EU States, but could potentially have far wider implications on future travel across the world.

My concern would not be the long term implications, rather if she has a visa in her passport that has a "valid from" date and the length of said visa then an immigration officer in France may look at both, conclude she had overstayed her visa in Ireland (which she has) and then think she is likely to do the same in France.

mick_murphy

The issuing country for the passport is Canada. She is going to be in France for a week, but she has the flight booked back to Canada and has proof of a ticket to return there. Would this be enough proof that she does not wish to overstay in France?

Not sure what the airline is but I think it may be Ryanair. I presume Ryanair will would presume she is ok to enter France as it is part of Schengen zone, a separate travel area to Ireland. Would they check for an overstay here?

Thanks for the replies guys.

ProudDUB

therecklessone wrote: »

My concern would not be the long term implications, rather if she has a visa in her passport that has a "valid from" date and the length of said visa then an immigration officer in France may look at both, conclude she had overstayed her visa in Ireland (which she has) and then think she is likely to do the same in France.

It could also impact future visa applications for other countries, or getting through future border checkpoints in general, if she has a great big 'Entry Denied' stamp on her passport.

zagmund

Ryanairs concern is that they don't get stuck with a passenger that they have to fly back to Ireland. Forgetting about Ireland, the first thing to consider is whether your friend needs a visa or other approval for France. If she needs a visa or approval, does she have it? If she doesn't need approval then Ryanair won't really be too worried about her status vis-a-vis Ireland.

If she needs approval then Ryanair *might* consider what things might cause problems for that approval . . . such as over stays in another country. It's hard to know really, they might get over zealous and not take the risk of her being turned away at the border in France.

z

[edit] - what I'm getting at is that if she has a multi-entry visa for France (if they exist, being from the EU I've never needed one) which is valid for the next 6 months then she shouldn't have any problems getting past the border there, and Ryanair shouldn't be unduly worried.

Yamanoto

coylemj wrote: »

That would require all immigration services across the world to be linked up to a common database which is clearly not the case.

I didn't mean every country would automatically have access to a visa violation, but once that information is recorded, I'd personally be a little concerned as to just where it might end up & whether it could come back to haunt you somewhere down the line. Perhaps that betrays a touch of paranoia on my part.

coylemj wrote: »

The only transnational system that I'm aware of is the one in place across the countries which have signed up to the Schengen agreement.

The United States and Australia have just recently agreed to share visa and immigration intel to 'support better decision-making by both countries to confirm applicants’ identities, and identify risks and inadmissible persons at the earliest opportunity'. The U.S. and Canada also have an agreement in place to share information on citizens of other Countries who apply for a visa / permit to travel to either jurisdiction.

Ireland and the UK also signed an agreement to preserve the CTA in 2011, with an accompanying memorandum of understanding to promote the exchange of biometric data & biographical details as part of the visa issuing process. According to the IT, all Irish visa applications have been checked against watch-lists kept by the British border authorities since April 2013.

A pilot exchange to check data provided in 1,700 Irish visa applications lodged in Nigeria against UK immigration records has identified over 200 persons applying to come to Ireland who have an adverse UK immigration history. A considerable number of these were either deported from the UK or refused entry into the UK.

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/IRELAND-UK%20ACCORD%20TO%20FURTHER%20SECURE%20THE%20COMMON%20TRAVEL%20AREA

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/uk-and-ireland-to-share-unprecedented-level-of-information-1.1954552

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/230920.htm