On March 15, 2021 the Court of First Instance handed down a decision in
which the rejection by the Minister of Justice in an immigration case was
nullified. The immigrant in question followed proper procedures to regulate
her stay with her Dutch husband in St. Maarten. The case in question is eerily
similar to a previous case in which the rejection of an immigrant was also
rejected on similar grounds. Seems to be a clear-cut case of same script
difference cast.
As per procedure, the immigrant who is a Guyanese national received
permission from the Immigration Department to marry a Dutch St. Maartener
here on Sint Maarten. This permission can only be granted once the
immigrant goes through rigorous interviews with the Immigration
Department. Once the marriage was approved and eventually done, the
immigrant following the advice of the Immigration Department and as per
procedure, left St. Maarten so that her husband could apply for her permit
for temporary residency. The husband made sure to attach to the application
evidence that his wife had left the country prior to the application.
Literally a year later the Minister of Justice rejected the application citing that
that the immigrant had resided in St. Maarten several years illegally prior to
the request for residency and that wasconsidered a violation of the public
order. The rejection also alluded to an additional argument that the immigrant
was still on the island awaiting a decision on the application despite the
Immigration Department receiving clear evidence such as a copy of a stamped
passport and travel documentation showing that the immigrant has been
abroad.
During the pleading phase before the Court of First Instance the Minister
departed from the argument that the immigrant was on the island at the time
of submission, but remained firm on her stance that the immigrant’s prior
illegal stay on the island was a violation against the public order. The Minister
of Justice also went on a tangent on the previous decision by the Appellate
Court despite not being the one who initiated appeal in that particular case,
and therefore legally speaking the Minister “agreed” with the ruling of the
Court of First Instance concerning prior illegal stay. During the hearing, the
Minister of Justice was also confronted with a myriad of similar cases where
the immigrants in those cases received a permit, insofar that they followed
the necessary procedures, yet had an illegal stay prior to their applications.
The Minister alluded to upcoming policy amendment that would serve as a
proper legal basis for the rejection, which as we all know was published on
February 19, 2021, 4 days after this case was handled.
The Court eventually rightfully ruled on March 15, 2021, that at the time that
the Minister of Justice could not legally use the previous illegal stay as a
ground for rejection as there is no published policy restricting those
immigrants from leaving the island and subsequently requesting residency
via the lawful channels.
The Court nullified the rejection, and the Minister of Justice was condemned
to make a new decision within four weeks and to pay Naf.1,550.00 in legal
fees.
The case was handled by Ashton Richardson, LL.M.of Brooks & Associates
and B&A Consultancy Services under the guidance of Brenda Brooks.
https://www.smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/37129-court-of-first-instance-of-st-maarten-once-again-nullified-rejection-given-in-an-immigration-case-by-the-minister-of-justice.html
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