In This Section

Introduction
About visa appeals
Who can appeal a decision
Appeal your visa decision
Appeal a visa decision for someone else

Submit the appeal
Rules for visa appeal documents
After you appeal
Decision and next steps

Introduction

If your visa application is refused, you will receive a letter from the visa office telling you why it has been refused and if you can appeal the decision. There are steps to follow when making an appeal and certain conditions may apply.

About visa appeals

Your letter of refusal will state if you are allowed to appeal. There is no fee.

  • Your appeal must arrive with us within 2 months of the date on the letter of refusal

  • If your appeal is late, the original visa decision cannot be changed. However, you may submit and pay for a new visa application if you wish. In some circumstances, you cannot appeal a visa decision and may be blocked from applying for a visa for up to 5 years

  • This may happen if you submitted false or misleading information with your original application
  • The letter of refusal will state if this applies to you.

Who can appeal a decision

If you are aged 18 or over:

  • You can appeal your own visa decision, as described below

  • You can also appeal a decision on behalf of someone else (as described below) if you have been authorised by them to do so, for example, as their solicitor or legal representative, visa sponsor, friend, family member, etc.

If you are aged under 18:

  • You cannot appeal your own visa decision

  • The appeal must be made by your parent or legal guardian (or your parent or guardian’s solicitor or legal representative).

Appeal your visa decision

Follow these steps to appeal your own visa decision. To appeal a decision on behalf of someone else (including your child), follow the separate steps described below.

(1) Letter of appeal

Type or write a letter of appeal that states that you wish to appeal a visa decision. The letter must include your:

  • Full name
  • Postal address
  • Personal email address

  • Visa Application Transaction Number.

In the letter explain in detail why you believe the decision should be changed.

When doing so you should refer to the reasons the application was refused (as stated in the letter of refusal). Add any new information you believe is important.

Sign and date the letter and include it with your appeal.

(2) Other necessary documents

  • Include any other documents you believe are important for your appeal.

  • Any documents you submit must follow the rules for visa appeal documents (see ‘6.’ below), otherwise they cannot be considered.

(3) Passport

  • Your letter of refusal will tell you if you need to include your original passport with your appeal.

  • Do not include your passport unless instructed to do so in the letter of refusal.

Appeal a visa decision for someone else

Follow these steps to appeal a decision for your child or if you have been authorised to appeal on behalf of someone else. There are no restrictions on the number of visa applicants you can appeal for.

If you are appealing for 2 or more people, you must include a separate letter of authorisation and letter of appeal for each person (as described below).

(1) Letter of authorisation (from the original visa applicant)

To appeal a visa decision on behalf of someone else, ask them to type or write a letter of authorisation that contains the information below.
(You do not need a letter of authorisation to appeal for your child if they are aged under 18.)

The letter must state that the original visa applicant is authorising you to act on their behalf for all matters and correspondence relating to the appeal of their visa decision.

The letter must include the original visa applicant’s:

  • Full name
  • Postal address

  • Visa Application Transaction Number, i.e., from the visa application in their name.

The letter must also include your (i.e., the authorised person’s):

  • Full name
  • Postal address

  • Date of birth (you must be aged 18 or older).

The visa applicant must sign and date the letter.

You must include the original letter of authorisation with the visa appeal.

(2) Letter of appeal (from the original visa applicant)

Type or write a letter of appeal that states that you (i.e., the authorised person or parent) wish to appeal a visa decision on behalf of another applicant.

The letter must include the original visa applicant’s:

  • Full name
  • Postal address
  • Personal email address, if available (do not include this for a child aged under 18)

  • Visa Application Transaction Number, i.e., for the application you wish to appeal.

The letter must also include your:

  • Full name
  • Postal address
  • Personal email address

  • Relationship to the original visa applicant, for example, parent, visa sponsor, family, friend, solicitor or legal representative, etc.

In the letter explain in detail why you believe the decision should be changed.

When doing so you should refer to the reasons the application was refused (as stated in the letter of refusal). Add any new information you believe is important.

Sign and date the letter and include it with the appeal.

(3) Other necessary documents

  • Full name
  • Postal address

  • Personal email address

  • Relationship to the original visa applicant, for example, parent, visa sponsor, family, friend, solicitor or legal representative, etc.

(4) Passport

  • You (i.e., the authorised person or parent) must include a colour photocopy of the photograph page of your passport or national identity card with the appeal.

  • In some cases you may need to include the visa applicant’s original passport with the appeal. The letter of refusal will tell you if you need to include the passport.

  • Do not include the passport unless instructed to do so in the letter of refusal.

Submit the appeal

When you are satisfied you have prepared the appeal, put everything into a strong padded envelope and send it to the Visa Appeals Officer at the office address stated in the letter of refusal.

If you are sending appeals for more than 1 person to the same address, you may send them together. To send together:

  • Place each person’s application documents into separate envelopes
  • Write the name and Visa Application Transaction Number of each person on each envelope

  • Place each envelope into a larger envelope send it to the office address

  • You must submit appeals by post only. We cannot accept faxes or emails
  • Be sure to pay the correct postage for large packages.

Rules for visa appeal documents

Prepare your appeal documents carefully before you submit them. All documents must follow the rules below:

  • Documents must be original
  • We cannot accept photocopies (except for a photocopy of an authorised person’s passport/travel document)
  • Letters must be original.

Letters from companies, universities, schools, colleges, etc., must be on official headed paper and show the organisation’s:

  • Full name
  • Full postal address
  • Telephone number
  • Website address
  • Email address (Yahoo and Hotmail email addresses are not accepted)
  • A contact person’s name and title/position

  • Written signature of an authorised representative (electronic signature is not accepted).

Documents/letters must be translated and certified

You must provide a full and certified translation into the English or Irish language of any documents/letters not in English or Irish. Send us both the original documents/letters and the certified translations.

Read a longer description about how to make a certified translation of a document.

“Any State issued official documents, such as Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Death Certificates, Divorce Certificates that were issued by a State outside of the EEA or Switzerland, must be attested/apostilled as genuine by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the State that issued the document, in order that it can be accepted as evidence for Irish visa purposes. Such documents are required to be translated into English or Irish, if necessary. Translations done outside the EEA or Switzerland must also be attested/apostilled as genuine, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country in which the translation occurs. Send us both the original documents and the certified translations. Translations done in the EEA or Switzerland do not need to be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Any State issued official documents, such as Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Death Certificates, Divorce Certificates that were issued by a State within the EEA or Switzerland do not require to be attested as genuine from Member States. A translation of these documents is not required where a multilingual standard form (MSF) is also provided. Such MSF forms are available from Member States on request. If an MSF is not provided by you then those documents are required to be translated into English or Irish, if necessary in order that it can be accepted as evidence for Irish visa purposes. Translations done outside the EEA or Switzerland must also be attested/apostilled as genuine, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country in which the translation occurs. Translations done in the EEA or Switzerland do not need to be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We will also accept the Extract of a European marriage certificate, issued in accordance with the “Convention on the issue of multilingual extracts from civil status records“, as proof of a marriage within the EEA or Switzerland. Send us both the original documents and the certified translations.”

Return of documents

Type or write a list of any documents you want returned (for example, photographs, payslips, money transfer receipts, etc.) and then:

  • Include the list with your letter of appeal
  • Include each original document from your list (we will return these after processing)

  • Include a photocopy of each document (we will keep these).

Do not send photocopies only. You must include the original documents.

Return of documents from the Dublin Visa Office

If you request a return address in Ireland or the UK (for example, to your authorised representative), type or write a note with the address and include it with your appeal.

We will send the documents there by post after a decision is ready.

If you request a return address outside Ireland or the UK, you must arrange a private courier to collect the documents from the Visa Appeals Office (at the address shown) after a decision is ready.

Visa Appeals Office
Immigration Service Delivery
6 – 7 Hanover Street
Dublin 2 D02 W320
Ireland

We will not send documents outside of Ireland or the UK.

Return of documents from a different Visa Office

After your documents are received, the relevant visa office will contact you to advise how your documents can be returned.

After you appeal

  • We process visa appeals in the order we receive them. We make every effort to process appeals as soon as possible and we advise the applicant of the outcome when the decision is made. Processing times can differ between offices and may also vary during the year, for example at holiday periods.

  • We may take more time processing the appeal if we need to do a detailed assessment of family rights under the Constitution of Ireland or the European Convention on Human Rights

  • Please check our page on current appeal waiting times for up to date processing times for appeals being processed in Dublin.

Decision and next steps

An appeals officer will consider all the documentation submitted in your appeal, as well as the documentation from your original visa application.

If your appeal is successful

  • We will send a notification to you stating that the original visa decision has been reversed
  • The notification will also explain what to do next to get your visa
  • Your documents will then be returned to you by post or arranged for collection, as explained in ‘return of documents’ above.

If your appeal is unsuccessful

  • We will send you another ‘letter of refusal’ stating that the original visa decision remains in place and that your appeal has been refused
  • Your documents will then be returned to you by post or arranged for collection, as explained in ‘return of documents’ above
  • You cannot appeal again
  • Only 1 appeal per application is permitted

  • However, you may submit and pay for (if appropriate) a new visa application.

This page was last updated on February 1, 2023