The Court of Appeal has dismissed two appeals by the Minister for Justice over refusals of family members’ applications to enter and remain in Ireland under EU free movement rules. It upheld High Court orders quashing the refusal decisions and said the matters should return to the Minister for further decisions, subject to advice about the applications’ current status.
The appeals concerned the meaning of dependency under the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) (No. 2) Regulations 2006, which implemented the EU Citizens Directive. The court said applicants must show real dependence, assessed in light of their financial and social circumstances, for essential material needs in their country of origin. They do not have to prove they would be unable to survive without support, and authorities must not make proof excessively difficult.
One appeal concerned Egyptian family members of a German citizen and his Egyptian-born wife, who had become an Irish citizen during the proceedings. Their applications for long-stay visas had been refused. The High Court quashed those decisions because the reasons did not make clear why the family’s evidence of support failed the applicable test. By the time of the Court of Appeal hearing, the family members had been granted refugee status, making that appeal moot to that extent. The Minister pursued it to clarify the legal test.
The second appeal concerned Pakistani parents of a UK citizen living in Ireland with his UK-citizen wife and their children. Their 2015 visa applications were refused, and an appeal was rejected. The parents provided evidence including financial transfers, housing information and a medical report concerning the father’s heart disease. The Minister cited concerns about the supporting material, including tenancy and address records, medical evidence, pension information and household expenses.
The High Court had found that the Minister applied a test requiring the parents to show that independent living at subsistence level would be impossible without the family’s financial and social support. The Court of Appeal agreed that this was more onerous than EU law allows. It also upheld the finding that the decision letter’s language created reasonable concern about an overly strict level of scrutiny. A refusal based on insufficient documentation must engage with that material under the correct test and give transparent reasons.
The court dismissed both appeals. It did not itself grant visas or determine that the applicants met the dependency test. It left further decisions to the Minister, subject to counsel’s advice on the applications’ current state.