EL v Minister for Justice (Approved)

1.1������ The applicant is an Albanian national born on 1 July 1997 and came to Ireland in April 2017. On 19 June 2017 the applicant applied for international protection which was refused on 27 June 2019. Between the period of the application for international protection and the refusal thereof the applicant had permission to remain in Ireland pursuant to the provisions of s.16 of the International Protection Act 2015 ('section 16'). Following the refusal aforesaid a deportation order was made against the applicant on 31 July 2019.

1.2������ In February 2022 the applicant applied for permission to remain in the State pursuant to the provisions of the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants Scheme ('the scheme'). The main strand of this scheme came into effect on 31 January 2022. According to the provisions thereof the eligibility requirement was that at the date of commencement of the scheme the applicant should be in the State for a period of at least four years without permission.

1.3������ On 14 September 2022 the application was refused permission to remain and subsequently an appeal was lodged on 20 September 2022. The appeal decision of 29 June 2023 was to uphold the refusal of 14 September 2022.

1.4������ On 6 November 2023 the applicant secured leave to seek to quash the appeal decision of 29 June 2023. The application is based on a statement of grounds of 5 October 2023.

1.5������ It is noted that the intention of the scheme would only apply to unlawful migrants in the State for a continuous period of four years or more on 31 January 2022. The second strand opened on 7 February 2022 and this applies to people with extant claims for international protection awaiting a decision for two years or more as of 7 February 2022.