DUBLIN AIRPORT played host to a love story with a happy ending for newlyweds Lasha Sabashvili and Gloria Walker last night.
The couple, who live in Castlebar, were finally reunited following a six-month legal battle with immigration authorities following Mr Sabashvili’s deportation to Georgia last November.
“It has been a hideous six months for us.
“But I’m so glad he’s back,” said Ms Walker, who is a British citizen living in Ireland since she was a child.
The couple were engaged to be married when members of the Garda National Immigration Bureau knocked on their door at 5am last November and arrested Mr Sabashvili, an asylum seeker from Georgia.
The following day he was deported along with 37 other Georgians on a charter flight to Tbilisi.
Mr Sabashvili’s application for asylum had been rejected by the authorities and he had been served with a deportation order.
However, the couple had sought to invoke rights laid out under EU treaties which provide that EU citizens (this does not apply to Irish citizens who are not covered by the directive) can have their non-EU partners live with them if they are in committed relationships.
Mr Sabashvili, who was supported by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, applied for a residence permit on the basis of his relationship with Ms Walker. But the Government rejected the application, arguing that the couple could not show they had been in a committed relationship for two years or more.
The council has made a formal complaint to the European Commission to test whether this two-year rule is consistent with the EU rules.
Hilkka Becker, senior solicitor for the council, said the insistence that the couple must show they had been a relationship for two years was arbitrary and not consistent with EU law.
The Government compounded this abuse of process by refusing to provide for an independent review of the decision, she added.
In a statement last night, the council said the case “very clearly highlights the dangers of Ireland’s failure to establish an independent appeals tribunal for immigration-related decisions”.
“The new Government has promised to introduce such a tribunal and we would urge them to do so as a matter of urgency,” it said.
The complaint by the council is still being considered by the European Commission.
“We had been in a committed relationship for eight months and known each other for a year and a half before the deportation,” said Ms Walker.
“I didn’t know when the complaint would be decided or when I would see Lasha again so I flew to Georgia and got married,” she said.
By getting married, Mr Sabashvili was able to apply to the State to revoke the deportation order and arrange a visa to enable him to come to Ireland and live with Ms Walker.
“My family and friends were not able to attend the wedding, which is very disappointing. It has been six months out of our life – a lot of heartache and tears,” she said.
“But I hope our experience of getting back together can give some hope to the many other people in a similar situation to us.”