Spike in Jordanian asylum claims tied to UK visa policy change, Irish officials say

The Department of Justice has confirmed a sharp and unexpected rise in Jordanian nationals seeking international protection in the Republic of Ireland—and it believes Britain’s electronic-travel authorisation (ETA) programme is the catalyst. Internal emails released under Freedom-of-Information legislation, and reported by RTÉ on 25 July, show officials tracking numbers that jumped from just six Jordanian applicants in January 2024 to more than 2,000 by mid-October of that year. The upward trend has continued into 2026, with weekly arrivals now averaging 80 people. UK Home Office rule changes made in October 2023 require most nationals of visa-free countries—including Jordan—to obtain a £10 ETA before travelling to or transiting through the United Kingdom. Crucially, the ETA is not yet mandatory for journeys that enter Northern Ireland by land from the Republic. According to the Justice Department memo titled “Arrivals to Ireland through NI”, many Jordanians have been flying visa-free into Dublin or continental EU hubs, travelling onward by bus to Belfast, and then attempting to reach Britain without the costly ETA. Ireland’s response has been two-pronged. First, the International Protection Office (IPO) has introduced “accelerated processing” for applicants from Jordan and five other countries deemed to have low asylum-grant rates—aiming to issue first-instance decisions within ten weeks. Second, Garda National Immigration Bureau officers have been deployed to Dublin Airport’s transit lounge and to main rail and coach stations serving the Belfast corridor, in order to identify passengers who appear to be circumventing the UK system. For employers, the development underscores the growing complexity of people-flows across the island of Ireland. While the Common Travel Area continues to allow British and Irish citizens to move freely, third-country nationals face an evolving patchwork of Irish, UK and EU requirements. Global-mobility programmes that rely on short-term project staff transiting through Belfast to London—or vice versa—should double-check documentation, as inadvertent non-compliance can now lead to refusal of carriage by carriers or questioning by immigration officers. Policy analysts predict that, unless London relaxes ETA provisions for land entries to Northern Ireland, Dublin may be forced to consider mirror-measures or bilateral agreements to manage the flow. A joint UK-Ireland working group is due to report by September; mobility stakeholders are advised to follow its recommendations closely.