IA196592014

The Respondent is a national of Ghana date of birth 4th June 1974. On the 12 th August 2014 the First-tier Tribunal (Judge North) allowed her appeal against a decision to refuse to issue her with residence card confirming her right to reside in the UK as the family member of an EEA national. The Secretary of State now has permission to appeal against that decision.

The Respondent�s case was that she was married to a Dutch national, Mr Alexandra Takyi. They had been married by proxy according to Ghanaian customary law. In the alternative it was her case that as she was in a durable relationship with Mr Takyi, her application fell to be considered under Regulation 8.

The Secretary of State did not accept that the marriage was valid, or that there was sufficient evidence to find that this was a durable relationship.

The First-tier Tribunal made findings of fact that this is a genuine relationship. Having regard to the expert evidence before it as well as the findings of the Upper Tribunal in NA (Customary Marriage and Divorce � Evidence ) Ghana [2009] UKAIT 00009 , the First-tier Tribunal was satisfied that their proxy customary marriage was considered lawful in Ghana and the appeal was allowed on that basis.

The grounds of appeal are that the First-tier Tribunal failed to consider whether the proxy customary marriage was recognised by the Dutch authorities. In accordance with the Upper Tribunal decision in Kareem (proxy marriage - EU law) [2014] UKUT 24 applicants are required to show that their marriages are considered valid in the EEA country that they are claiming their free movement rights from.