The High Court has quashed a decision upholding the refusal of a residence card for the mother of a British citizen living in Ireland, finding that the Minister failed to properly assess the social and emotional dependence between them.
Mr Justice Max Barrett ruled on 19 January 2021 that the Minister for Justice had erred in the review decision issued on 26 August 2019. The decision had affirmed the refusal of a residence card for Mrs Kauser, a Pakistani national who had lived with her son, Shakeel Ahmed Dar, since arriving in Ireland in May 2016.
Mr Dar, who came to Ireland in 2004 and operates a business here, applied for a card for his mother as a dependent family member under EU free movement rules. Her initial application was refused in June 2017. After a review was refused, earlier judicial review proceedings were settled on terms requiring the Minister to reconsider the application. A fresh review decision again upheld the refusal.
The Minister’s decision said the application included grocery and medical receipts but did not show who paid for them. It also said there were no financial records for Mrs Kauser or evidence that her son had transferred money or otherwise provided financial assistance. The judge said it was open to the Minister to reach that conclusion on the financial documents before her. He also rejected the argument that a mother is necessarily dependent on her adult son simply because she lives with him.
However, the judge said the decision failed to give proper consideration to the social conditions and emotional and social dependence arising from Mrs Kauser’s circumstances: she was a widow in her seventies who had lived in her son’s home for several years. EU law requires an assessment of dependence in light of a person’s financial and social conditions, and the decision did not adequately address those social circumstances, he found.
The court granted the order of certiorari sought, quashing the review decision. It did not grant Mrs Kauser a residence card or decide that she had established financial dependence. The judgment’s ruling was that the Minister’s review decision was legally deficient because it did not properly consider and give reasons on the social dependence issue.