1） 持有效英国商务签和旅游签的中国人在2011年7月1日至2012年10月31日期间经由英国去爱尔兰不需要签证。

2） 持有英国工作签和其他英国长期签证的中国人在2011年7月1日至2012年10月31日期间去爱尔兰仍然需要签证，但是可以免签证费。



官方消息来源链接如下：


http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/WP11000005


消息原文如下：

The Short-stay Visa Waiver Programme

Information Note

The Short-stay Visa Waiver Programme was announced by the Government as part of its Jobs Initiative with a view to promoting tourism from emerging markets. It is due to commence on 1 July 2011. The programme will run as a pilot up to end October 2012 but may be amended or expanded at any point depending on experience of the pilot.

The main points of the programme are:

Holders of UK "general visas" will be able to travel to Ireland within the period of validity of that visa without the requirement to obtain a separate Irish visa. The period of validity of such a visa is 180 days but the maximum stay in Ireland will be 90 days or to the end of the period of validity of the visa, whichever is the shorter. It should be stressed that the need for a visa to visit Ireland is not eliminated by this programme. Visitors from visa-required countries will still require an Irish visa (for direct travel to Ireland) or a UK visa (for travel to Ireland via the UK). What is eliminated by this programme is the need to have both an Irish and UK visa when visiting Ireland via the UK.