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All people born in Northern Ireland will be considered citizens of the European Union for immigration purposes, after a significant reduction by the British Home Office.
Emma DeSouza of Magherafelt in Co Derry had waged a lengthy immigration legal battle to allow her American-born husband Jake to remain in Northern Ireland without compromising her identification as an Irish citizen.
However, the Home Office rejected the couple’s request on the grounds that Ms DeSouza was British, despite her argument that she never had a British passport.
Now, however, the Home Office has changed its rules so that DeSouza can seek residence in the UK while his wife continues to identify herself solely as Irish.
Expressing their satisfaction with the result, the couple said that the Interior Ministry had finally aligned its rules with the agreement of the New Decade, New Approach of last January that restored the Executive and the Northern Assembly.
The Home Office asked Ms DeSouza to apply for her husband’s residence as a British citizen or to renounce her British citizenship and apply for Irish citizenship.
Ms DeSouza contested that decision, claiming that she had never had a British passport and citing how the Belfast Agreement allowed her to identify herself as Irish, British or both.
In October, the Home Office won an appeal against an immigration court case that had originally upheld Ms. DeSouza’s right to declare herself Irish, without first renouncing British citizenship.
Ms DeSouza, who married in Belfast in July 2015, applied with her Irish passport for a green card for her husband in December of that year.
“This is in keeping with the commitment that the UK government made in the new Decade, the new Focus Agreement in January 2020 that restored shared power in Northern Ireland,” the Home Office said in a statement on Thursday.
Date of Expiry
The changes to the rule, which Tánaiste Simon Coveney has pushed for, means that all British and Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland will be treated as EU citizens for immigration purposes. The rule changes are due in June of next year.
Mr DeSouza will now be allowed to stay in the UK indefinitely if he applies for residence under the EU settlement scheme.
Ms. DeSouza said that she and her husband were “delighted to see the British government move to fulfill its commitment to change immigration rules as outlined in the new approach agreement for the new decade.”
“These changes are the result of years of campaigning for the full recognition of our right to be accepted as Irish or British or both under the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.
“We have always maintained that no one should be forced to adopt or renounce citizenship to access rights. Doing so goes against the letter and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement. I am an Irish citizen and I have the right to be accepted as such. The Interior Ministry now recognizes that point. ”
She said the rule changes “will have a positive impact on families in Northern Ireland and provide a route for family reunification under EU regulations, whether that person identifies as Irish or British or both.”
“Personally, we know several families who will benefit from this change and are filled with joy and relief that these families will not face calls to renounce British citizenship or face years in court like us,” said Ms. DeSouza.
Sinn Féin senator Niall Ó Donnghaile said the decision was a “victory” for the DeSouzas. Changing the rules clearly showed “that there are different political, historical and social differences here, which is why we have the Good Friday Agreement in the first place,” he said.
“Many of us are concerned, however, about the limited time nature of the changes announced today, only running until the end of the transition period, and more generally about the continued failure of the British government to address our rights to citizenship and identity by codifying GFA Provisions within their own national law, ”he added.
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