Orders quashed, permission to remain granted for parents of Irish-born minors after EU court ruling
Some immigrant parents of Irish children who were deemed to have left the State after failing to present themselves for deportation are currently applying for permission to remain in Ireland, Metro Éireann has learned.
It is understood that those who have come forward have done so following the recent judgement by the European Court of Justice which guaranteed their right to live in Ireland and raise their children here.
In the Zambrano case, handed on 8 March last, the court ruled that EU member states are forbidden from refusing non-EEA nationals whose minor children are EU citizens permission to live in the children’s state of residence and nationality.
It also ruled that the member state cannot refuse to grant a work permit to such nationals if it would deprive their children of rights attached to the status of European Union citizen.
Some of the parents who came out of hiding to apply for residency under the Zambrano ruling have already had their deportation orders quashed and their permission to remain in Ireland granted.
“It is a welcome development,” Emeka Ezeani of Ceeemex and Co solicitors told Metro Éireann. “Some of my clients that had to go underground with their citizen children encountered very traumatising experiences; [in many cases] their citizen children were out from school and separated from their friends at short notice.”
Ezeani added that “a lot of them are happy that their ordeals are now over and they can now come and reside peacefully with their families. They feel that the EU court judgement is a vindication of their Irish citizen children’s rights.”
He appealed to the Government to facilitate all those who have been affected by the ruling to return to the country.
“I am concerned [at the numbers of] Irish citizen children who are still stuck in third world countries and are experiencing difficulty in returning to Ireland,” he said. “I hope that Justice would give adequate and prompt attention to visa resident applications lodged by their non-Irish national parents at the Irish embassies in various countries.”
At press time, the Department of Justice had not commented on a number of issues we raised in relation to the Zambrano ruling.
