We recently posted about a family residing in
Saudi Arabia who was granted permission to enter and reside in the State on the
basis of their Irish Citizen Child. On
appeal of their first application which was refused for a number of reasons, we
challenged the deciding officer for failing to consider the rights of the
European Citizen Child in line with the judgement in Zambrano. Ultimately the family was granted D Type
visas to enter the State. Upon their
arrival, immigration officials at Dublin Airport provided the family which
consists of a mother, father and three young children with a one month
permission to remain. The family was
directed to register their status with the Minister for Justice and Equality
and this was done almost immediately through our office.
The family have commenced life in their new
home. They found accommodation and the
children have been enrolled for the 2012/2013 school year. The father, who is highly qualified in his
chosen field, has been provided with the opportunity to work. He is unable to do so at present without
providing evidence of a Stamp 4. He is
also aware of the fact that the delay in the determination of so called
‘Zambrano’ type cases is considerable.
We understand that there are two systems in place
regarding D Type Visas – i.e. the pre-clearance visa is granted which is
followed by the requirement of registering your permission to remain in the
State by obtaining the appropriate Stamp on one’s passport and a ‘GNIB card.’ We informed the State that we are aware of two
cases based on ‘Zambrano’ pending for over 12 months from this office alone.
The INIS website states that ‘legally resident non EEA nationals who have
entered the State with the intention of residing for more than three months
must register with their local immigration registration officers.’ It seems that our clients, like many others
such applicants, are subject to further examination after having been granted a
long –stay visa. They have been
requested to make an application to the Zambrano Team in the Department of
Justice and Equality which could take up to a year or more to decide. Again, they must submit all of the
documentation already forwarded to visa officials twice. We were also advised that a temporary Stamp 4
while their application is pending is out of the question.
The INIS website also provides that ‘the onus
is on all Non EEA nationals to keep their residency up to date at all times
while they are in the State.’ It is
infuriating that our clients and similar families would leave their homes and
jobs to relocate to Ireland. They make preparations to continue family life in
Ireland based on having obtained long-stay visas to enter the State only to
find that in fact they cannot avail of employment and are liable to become
undocumented for a long period of time.
The State advised us that unfortunately it is the case that a person’s
permission might expire during the determination of an application for
residency but nothing can be done about this.
We believe that this is a very serious problem. It is unfair that a
country would facilitate a person with a long- stay visa to enter the State
only to allow that person to endure a painstaking wait to actually register
permission to remain.
If the State continues to operate in this
manner, it should at least allow for temporary permission to issue to those who
are lawfully resident in the State and risk becoming undocumented while the
Minister decides their application. The
UK Home Office have operated such a system for all Zambrano applicants since
the judgement itself was delivered.
We would ask the Minister what is the point of carrying
our a full assessment of the Irish citizen child’s rights of residence from outside the State, when on arrival, the
full assessment must be carried out again? If the family visa are granted to
enter the State, why are the child’s parents, granted a temporary permission to stay as
visitors for one month only, when the
residence application may take over one year to determine? How is this family
supposed to support the child in the intervening period? Without lawful
permission to reside, applicants become vulnerable, restricted in their proper
enjoyment of family life and risk huge financial problems. Zambrano cases are child focused but yet the
Department of Justice’s policy is wholly adverse to the best interest of that
child.
Brophy Solicitors
24.08.12
