Post
by Platinum » Tue May 22, 2007 4:10 pm
Hi. I've written a letter, but it's too long, especially for the Irish Times. Any help trimming it down?
Dear Sir/Madam:
During this election time, I’d like to draw your attention to a group of people who can’t vote, but are trying desperately to gain legal residence and recognition from the Irish government: non-EU spouses of EU citizens.
EU Directive 2004/38/EC gives non-EU family members of EU citizens the right to live and work in another EU state with their loved one. Under this freedom of movement law, individual states are given six months from application to supply the non-EU member with residency papers. However, such papers do not convey the right to live and work- they are merely an administrative formality for the host EU state. In fact, the EU laws specifically state that in no instance should the non-EU member be required to show such papers to acquire any services, employment, or residency. The mere fact of marriage to an EU citizen conveys those rights.
The Irish Department of Justice’s interpretation of Directive 2004/38/EC is in blatant violation of EU laws and human rights.
Not only is the process of applying for a residency card (through the EU1 form) opaque, inefficient and frustrating, but the Dept. of Justice is taking longer than the EU-mandated six months to process the paperwork. Furthermore, in direct violation of Directive 2004/38/EC, the Irish government makes possession of the residency card a prerequisite for working in this country. This means that some of us have been waiting for up to nine months for a decision on the EU1 and having to survive on one income, despite being able and eager to contribute to the Irish economy.
Even worse, the GNIB refuses to stamp the non-EU passport with a residency or other stamp. This means that those of us who entered the country and were given one-month stamps and told to report to the GNIB at Burgh Quay are here without proper proof of our legal right to reside in the country with our family members. When my husband and I went over to the UK for a wedding celebration with his family, for instance, upon return into Dublin, we were forced to prove our relationship yet again to the immigration officer. The immigration officer, not knowing what to do, gave me yet another one month stamp and told me to report to Burgh Quay, who could not or would not give me a residency stamp, even just to cover the period during which my EU1 form is being processed. My husband refuses to travel out of the country again, as he is afraid next time the immigration officer might simply refuse to allow me back into the country. There have been reports of immigration officers at Dublin airport not believing that an EU1 applicant is married and legally allowed into the country.
Those who come from a visa-required country are in even worse shape, as they must beg the government for a multiple-entry visa. If they don’t get one, they are essentially trapped here.
The Dept. of Justice has rejected EU1 applications with the reason that the applicants have not shown that they had legally resided in another EU state prior to living in Ireland. This requirement does not appear anywhere in Directive 2004/38/EC. Not only that, but Ireland’s EU1 application doesn’t even ask for such proof. The Dept. of Justice is judging and rejecting applicants based on information that wasn’t asked for in the application! It is completely arbitrary and nonsensical. If the Irish government wants proof that such marriages are genuine and not marriages of convenience, that’s fine. Ask for proof of a genuine marriage. But to simply fabricate rules, out of thin air, is unacceptable.
We EU1 applicants would dearly love to make our lives here in Ireland. But the Dept. of Justice is making it impossible. We ask for redress of our grievances.
or even less. Let's post final ok's here like this:
