The Court of Appeal has restored a decision refusing visas to the mother and five younger brothers of an Afghan man living in Ireland with subsidiary protection status.
SK arrived in Ireland as an asylum seeker in August 2015 and was granted subsidiary protection in 2018, effective from May 2019. In August 2021, his mother and five brothers applied for Join Family visas with SK acting as sponsor.
Their applications were refused, and an appeal was rejected by the Minister for Justice on September 20, 2023. SK subsequently obtained judicial review, arguing that the Minister had failed to take proper account of the humanitarian implications of his subsidiary protection status.
The High Court agreed and set the decision aside, directing that the visa appeal be reconsidered. It also found that insufficient regard had been given to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban's return to power.
In a judgment delivered on April 20, 2026, Mr Justice Charles Meenan held that those conclusions could not stand.
The Court of Appeal noted that SK's solicitors had expressly told the Minister about his subsidiary protection status and about his family's circumstances, including the claim that his father had been killed by the Taliban because of a family connection to the Afghan army and police.
The Minister's decision itself also expressly recorded SK's subsidiary protection status and stated that all material submitted with the visa applications and appeal had been considered.
The appeal court said established Supreme Court authority means such a statement is ordinarily sufficient unless there is evidence suggesting the decision-maker did not in fact consider the material. SK had produced no such evidence.
The court also held that the separate humanitarian-crisis ground had not been included in the judicial review leave granted to SK.
The Minister's appeal was therefore allowed and the High Court order set aside.