The High Court has proposed an order quashing a 2021 decision to refuse an appeal against the denial of a Join Spouse visa for the husband of an Iraqi woman living in Ireland. The court found that the decision failed to properly weigh her subsidiary protection status and the effect of refusal on the couple’s ability to live together.
The woman, identified in the judgment as I.A.H., has lived in Ireland since 2011 and was granted subsidiary protection in 2015. She married her husband by proxy in December 2018. He applied for a long-stay Join Family visa in February 2019. The application was refused in November 2019, and the appeal was refused on 4 March 2021.
The refusal cited the sponsor’s finances, concerns about the evidence of the relationship and its history, inconsistencies in the documents, and possible costs to public resources. The Minister’s decision said there were insufficient reasons why the couple could not maintain their relationship through visits to Iran. It also found no breach of the right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, noting that the couple had lived apart throughout their relationship.
The applicant sought judicial review, arguing that the decision had not properly considered that her protection status meant she could not safely return to Iraq to establish family life with her husband. The Minister opposed the case, relying in part on financial and documentary shortcomings. The judge accepted that the application had weaknesses, including unmet financial thresholds and inconsistencies that raised concerns about the relationship. But she was not satisfied those matters were independent grounds that would necessarily have led to the same refusal after a proper assessment of the humanitarian circumstances.
The judgment said the refusal did not address cohabitation as part of family life or explain whether the couple could safely reside together in Iraq. The judge found that the woman’s subsidiary protection status called for particular consideration of the safety and family-life implications of refusal, even though it did not create an automatic right for her husband to live in Ireland.
A further concern was that the Minister may have believed the woman had travelled to Iraq in 2016 and could therefore return there. The woman denied travelling to Iraq, saying she had travelled to Iran. The judge said the apparent belief was not raised with her during the visa process, so she had no opportunity to respond before the decision was made.
The court proposed to quash the refusal of the husband’s appeal. The judge said she would hear the parties on consequential matters; the judgment does not record a final order on those matters.