Thousands of deportation notices for spouses of EU nationals

[kerrynorth]

From The Irish Times:

• Thousands of married couples have been issued with notices of intention to deport non-EU spouses, The Irish Times has learned. Kitty Holland reports.
  
  The situation has emerged following a High Court ruling in June which said the Department of Justice was within its rights to insist non-EU spouses of EU citizens must live in another member state before residing here.
  
  The European Commission has confirmed it is investigating the stance taken by the Department of Justice and said that it has received "numerous" complaints from couples affected by the court ruling.
  
  Couples are being issued with "Section 3" letters informing the non-EU spouse that "the Minister proposes to make a deportation order in respect of you" on the grounds of being "unlawfully present in the State".
  
  The letter gives the recipient three options - to leave the State voluntarily, to consent to being deported or to make representations to "remain temporarily in the State" within 15 days.
  
  The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) says it has "about 750 cases" of couples in this situation.
  
  "And that is just those that have come to our offices," says Catherine Cosgrave, legal officer with the ICI. "There will be others going to Citizens Advice Centres, the Migrant Rights Centre and solicitors."
  
  In an unpublished ruling, seen by The Irish Times in June, Mr Justice Michael Hanna said the Department of Justice was intra vires in demanding that non-EU spouses of EU citizens reside legally in another member state before being eligible for residency here.
  
  The case is being appealed to the Supreme Court. The solicitor taking the case, Derek Stewart, said his office was receiving "about 15 cases a day" from couples with "Section 3" letters.

The Dept of Justice has confirmed that it has issued thousands of deportation notices to the spouses of EU nationals as a result of last June's High Court decision.

[ffr]

Can someone help me understand what is going on? What a blow!! this doesn't make sense. Are we moving toward a system were to fall in love one we have to ask permission to the department of Justice or something ?

[QuizMaster]

They're coming over here, taking our women, working harder than us for lower wages, looking at our scenery, there's no end to it.

[Kate P]

KerryNorth wrote

The Dept of Justice has confirmed that it has issued thousands of deportation notices to the spouses of EU nationals as a result of last June's High Court decision.

Good morning,
I understood - though I'm open to correction on this - that it was [b]non EU spouses of EU nationals who should have spent time in another EU country before they came here.
That's what I took from the news headline this morning - and the fact that it's based on a recent High Court ruling.

[rkeane]

This is excellent news, Brian Lenihan is really starting to impress me with his approach to the job. This measure is to stop people from outside the E.U (mainly from Nigeria, Turkey etc) marrying for example a pole in order to remain in Ireland.....arranged marriages.

[Aindriu]

This is excellent news, Brian Lenihan is really starting to impress me with his approach to the job. This measure is to stop people from outside the E.U (mainly from Nigeria, Turkey etc) marrying for example a pole in order to remain in Ireland.....arranged marriages.

Extremely unfair on the many who are in genuine marriages though.

[kvof]

Were there any letters received by US/Canadian/Australian citizens ?

These are non EU too, or do different rules apply to them ?

Is it now necessary to get a permit to marry a citizen of a non-EU country? This certainly has a whiff of police state. Is it also necessary to have a Garda permit before dating someone ?

[kerrynorth]

KerryNorth wrote

The Dept of Justice has confirmed that it has issued thousands of deportation notices to the spouses of EU nationals as a result of last June's High Court decision.

Good morning,
I understood - though I'm open to correction on this - that it was [b]non EU spouses of EU nationals who should have spent time in another EU country before they came here.
That's what I took from the news headline this morning - and the fact that it's based on a recent High Court ruling.

Broadly correct. It is non EU nationals who married non-Irish EU nationals in Ireland without having travelled from another EU state as a couple or having residency in another EU state. Whereas some genuine cases will get caught up in this I have no doubt that the great majority of such marriages are scams.

[rkeane]

I'm married to a non-eu woman from the Philippines, the difference is that she was legally working in Ireland years before I met her. This measure covers a hole in our immigration laws....other E.U countries already have similar arrangements. We have an obligation to secure our part of the E.U borders.

[kerrynorth]

This is excellent news, Brian Lenihan is really starting to impress me with his approach to the job.

He is begining to make Michael 'the Furher' McDowell look like a soft cute and cuddly teddybear alright. I never thought I'd be saying that about McDowell . We have a Minister of Justice with balls!