IA007832014

The appellant, a citizen of Ghana, appeals with permission against the dismissal by First-tier Tribunal Judge Bircher of his appeal against the respondent�s decision to refuse him a residence card as the family member of an EEA citizen under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (as amended).

The appellant asserts that he entered into a Ghanaian customary marriage, by proxy, with a German citizen of Ghanaian descent who is exercising Treaty rights in the United Kingdom and that he should therefore be treated as her spouse, for the purposes of the Regulations. Neither of the parties was in Ghana when the marriage was entered into.

He then considered whether the appellant could bring himself within regulation 8(5) which applies to unmarried partners, but was not satisfied as to the evidence of durability of the relationship.

Finally, he considered Appendix FM and paragraph 276ADE of the Immigration Rules HC 395 (as amended), and Article 8 ECHR outside the Rules. She concluded that the appellant could not bring himself within the Rules and that this was not a case where the respondent should exercise discretion outside the Rules on private and family life grounds. The appeal was dismissed.

The appellant appealed. His grounds of appeal in the first application dealt only with the question of the validity of the customary marriage in Ghana, applying CB (validity of marriage: proxy marriage) Brazil [2008] UKAIT 00080 , and contended that the marriage should be recognised as valid in United Kingdom law. He argued that the Kareem guidance was wrong since as a matter of private international law, the lex loci celebrationis should be determinative of the validity of the marriage.