NI: Man who ‘can’t marry fiancée’ because he carries Irish passport to bring judicial review
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A man who says his Japanese fiancée has been refused a UK visa because he holds an Irish passport is bringing an application for judicial review to the Northern Ireland courts, the Belfast Telegraph reports.
Lawyers for Ciaran Doole want to overturn the Home Office decision so he can go ahead with his marriage to Makiko Takeoka this month.
In a letter, Ms Takeoka was informed she did not meet the eligibility requirements for a visa because her sponsor, Mr Doole, “is an Irish national who is working in the UK not present or settled in the UK”.
Solicitor Barbara Muldoon of Gillen & Co Solicitors, acting for Mr Doole, told the Belfast Telegraph that the Home Office’s refusal of Ms Takeoka’s visa application breached the Good Friday Agreement.
Ms Muldoon said: “It treats Irish passport holders in Northern Ireland as foreigners in their own country.
“It also has huge implications post-Brexit for the 400,000 Irish nationals living in the UK who aren’t entitled to hold a British passport.
“Despite all the promises being made now about their status, this ruling indicates they would have no automatic right to live in Britain.”
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