Landmark immigration case (non-EU parent of an Irish citizen) settled

[Rakmator]

Landmark immigration case settled

Monday, 17 November 2008

The Government has settled a High Court case in which an Irish citizen of Chinese extraction challenged the refusal to allow her mother to stay here.

But the Government has ensured that no precedent has been set for other Irish families in a similar position.

Last month the High Court granted the Moylan family leave to apply for a judicial review of the Government's decision to refuse Tingting Moylan's mother, Lihua Wang, permission to reside here as the dependent mother of an Irish citizen.

According to the Immigrant Council of Ireland's senior solicitor, Hilkka Becker, the leave was granted on the grounds that Irish citizens are discriminated against in comparison to other EU nationals in relation to family reunification.

Ms Wang came to Ireland last June to visit her daughter and son-in-law, John Moylan, and their two young sons, Gerard and Michael.

According to Ms Becker, both John and Tingting Moylan are working and Ms Wang has been an invaluable support in caring for her two grandchildren.

She said if Ms Moylan was a French national living and working in Ireland she would be permitted to be joined by her dependent parents from China under EU free movement rules.

Ms Becker said that it was unfortunate that, because the Government settled this case out of court, no precedent has been set for other Irish families in a similar position to the Moylans.

That means that if a similar case were to arise, the chances are that it may well have to shoulder the cost and emotional strain of bringing another case before the courts before the situation is resolved.

She called on the Government to address this situation as soon as possible to end the unnecessary hardship faced by immigrants and Irish citizens.