British-Irish visa scheme goes live in India

The British-Irish visa scheme recently went live in India. The scheme will allow Indian nationals to travel to the UK and Ireland on a single short term visit visa. Ireland and the UK will share Visa Application Centres across India. From February 10, 2015, all applicants applying for an Irish or British visa will need to use the shared Visa Application Centres.

“India is a priority market for Ireland under the Government’s Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy and the Embassy in New Delhi and the State agencies in India work on the basis of a joint strategy to increase trade, investment, education and tourism between our two countries,” said Feilim McLaughlin, Ambassador of Ireland to India.

James Bevan, British High Commissioner to India, said “This is another example of the continuous improvements we are making to the visa service for Indian nationals. India is a key growth market for both UK and Irish tourism. We hope that more Indian visitors will choose to come to the UK and Ireland as a result of this latest change.”