The Common Travel Area: why a British passport is all you need in Ireland

Brexit changed the rules for Brits almost everywhere in Europe, but not in Ireland, because the right to live there never came from the EU in the first place.

The short version

• The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a UK–Irish arrangement dating from 1922. It lets British and Irish citizens live, work and study in each other's country [1].
• British citizens in Ireland need no visa, no employment permit and no residence permit, and don't register with immigration [2][3][4].
• You also get access to public healthcare, social welfare, social housing supports and the vote in Dáil and local elections [1][2].
• CTA rights belong to citizens only. A partner, child or parent who isn't British or Irish has to apply under a separate scheme, with income tests [1][5].
• It isn't EU free movement, so there's no 90/180-day limit for Brits in Ireland. But Ireland isn't in Schengen, so living in Dublin doesn't help you stay longer in Spain or France [3].

What the Common Travel Area is

The CTA began in 1922 as an informal understanding between the two governments, not a treaty. Over the years parts of it found their way into law in both countries [1]. On 8 May 2019 the UK and Irish governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding that set out the rights it covers and confirmed it would carry on after Brexit [1].

For CTA purposes, "the UK" means England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands [1]. If you were born in Jersey or Douglas, you're covered too.

The key point: the CTA sits outside EU law. Citizens Information says the UK leaving the EU hasn't affected the rights of Irish and UK citizens within it [1]. It's also why Brits who move to Ireland now don't face the Withdrawal Agreement paperwork and the residence cards that Brits in Spain or Portugal deal with.

What it gives you in Ireland

A few of these come with fine print.

Healthcare

You get public healthcare on the same basis as an Irish resident, not free healthcare, and you need to be ordinarily resident, which means actually living here rather than visiting. Public healthcare in Ireland isn't the NHS: most adults pay to see a GP unless they have a medical card or GP visit card. Our guide to healthcare in Dublin explains the charges and the cards.

Social welfare and the habitual residence condition

Most means-tested payments come with a habitual residence condition. Time in the UK counts as time in Ireland for that test, which helps. But Citizens Information warns that UK citizens who've only just moved may find it harder to show their main centre of interest is now in Ireland [2].

UK National Insurance you've paid also counts towards Irish social insurance (PRSI) payments and pensions, and vice versa [2]. A UK State Pension paid to you in Ireland keeps going up every April, because Ireland is on DWP's uprating list. Our guide to the UK State Pension and the Irish State Pension explains how the two fit together.

Study

The CTA gives access to education, but university fees depend on each scheme's own rules, including where you've lived in recent years. Our guide to university in Ireland or the UK covers fees for British students on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Voting

You can vote in general and local elections in Ireland [2][3]. You can't vote in presidential elections, referendums or European Parliament elections [2]. You keep your UK vote too: Votes for Life means you can register as an overseas voter for general elections, wherever you live. Our guide to voting from abroad explains how.

What the CTA doesn't cover

• Driving licences. Once you live in Ireland you can't drive on your UK licence. You must exchange it with the NDLS, using a check code from the DVLA (or the DVA in Northern Ireland) [2][3].
• Goods and customs. The CTA is about people, not things. Moving your belongings, bringing a car and buying online from the UK are covered by the post-Brexit trade rules [1]. Our guide to bringing a UK car to Ireland explains VRT.
• Tax. Living in Dublin makes you Irish tax resident in the normal way. The UK–Ireland double taxation agreement stops you paying twice on the same income [3].
• The rest of the EU. Ireland isn't in Schengen. Brits living in Ireland are still third-country nationals elsewhere in the EU, with the 90/180-day rule, and must register with the EU's Entry/Exit System when they travel to Schengen countries. Ireland itself doesn't use EES [3][4].
• Your family, unless they're British or Irish themselves. More on that below.

Travelling between the UK and Ireland

There are no routine passport checks for British and Irish citizens travelling between the two countries [1]. The FCDO's entry requirements for Ireland, when we checked on 7 November 2026 (still current at 6 November 2026, updated 4 September 2026), say British nationals aren't legally required to show a passport to enter Ireland, but Irish immigration officers can ask for proof of British nationality [4].

In practice, carry your passport. Airlines and ferry companies ask for ID to board, and the FCDO notes that some only accept a passport [4]. A British driving licence may not get you on the plane. Irish immigration officers also carry out selective checks on arrivals from the UK [1].

Bringing a non-British partner or family member

This is where the CTA stops. Its rights don't extend to family members who aren't British or Irish citizens [1].

If you were already living in Ireland before 31 December 2020, your non-EEA family members kept their rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. They had to swap their Irish Residence Permit for a new card by 30 June 2022 [2].

If you moved after that, Irish Immigration runs a scheme for non-EEA family members of UK nationals [5]. In outline:

1. Check the category. Spouses, civil partners and de facto partners (two years living together), dependent children, and dependent parents aged 66 or over [5].
2. Check the sponsor test. You, the British sponsor, must live or plan to live in Ireland, and your gross income in each of the previous three years must be above the Working Family Payment threshold for your family size. For a couple with no children, the minimum is €20,000 a year (about £16,700), on top of any state benefits. You can't have relied mainly on benefits for two years or more before applying [5].
3. Apply from outside Ireland. Your family member applies from their home country or where they legally live, for a preclearance letter (if they don't need a visa) or a long stay "D" visa (if they do). They can't come as a visitor and switch inside Ireland [5].
4. Pay the fee and send the documents. The application fee is €60 (about £50), or €100 (about £83) for a multiple-entry visa. You'll need police certificates for the past five years, six months of bank statements, private medical insurance from an Irish-authorised insurer, and proof of the relationship [5].
5. Travel within six months, then register with immigration before the landing stamp runs out. The first permission lasts 12 months and is renewed after that [5].

Refusals can be appealed free of charge within eight weeks [5]. Irish Immigration deals with applications in the order they arrive and updates its processing times every Tuesday, so check before you book flights [5].

If you might move back to Britain one day, the rules for a non-British partner are tougher there. Our guide to bringing a non-British partner to the UK explains the family visa.

Is Irish citizenship worth it?

For day-to-day life in Dublin, the CTA gives you almost everything an Irish passport would. The differences show up elsewhere: an Irish passport makes you an EU citizen, with free movement across the EU and no 90/180-day limit, plus votes in presidential elections and referendums. Many Brits qualify through an Irish-born parent or grandparent, and long-term residents can naturalise. Our guide to Irish citizenship for Brits explains the routes.

If you want to compare notes with others who've made the move, our community group for Brits in Ireland is here.

Sources

1. Citizens Information: Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK (page edited 9 April 2025)
2. Citizens Information: Residence rights of UK citizens (page edited 15 August 2022)
3. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Ireland (last updated 26 February 2026)
4. GOV.UK (FCDO): Ireland travel advice – entry requirements
5. Irish Immigration Service Delivery: Joining your UK national family member

Keep reading

• Moving to Dublin as a Brit
• PPS number, Revenue myAccount and your first weeks in Ireland
• Irish citizenship for Brits: grandparents and the Foreign Births Register
• Brits in the EU after Brexit: residence rights and the 90/180-day rule