– I am almost speechless when I hear about this case. It is permissible to use common sense in such matters. So says SV’s immigration policy spokesperson, Grete Wold. This week, news told the story of Samir Ahmadi (27), who came to Norway as a refugee from Afghanistan in 2010. In 2016, he married his childhood sweetheart Asifa (28) in Afghanistan. Since then, he has fought to get her to Norway. He is currently a Norwegian citizen, has a full-time job, and has his own home in Namsos. But neither the Directorate of Immigration nor the Immigration Board will accept the marriage. As a result, Asifa is not allowed to move to Norway to live with her husband. Tobias Drevland Lund is a Storting politician for Rødt. He believes the case is an example of people fighting against an incredibly bureaucratic system. – It can almost seem as if the immigration administration’s attitude in this case, like so many others, is what is called “immigration regulatory considerations”, says Rødt’s parliamentary politician Tobias Drevland Lund to news. Tobias Drevland Lund from Rødt will take Asifa’s and Samir’s case to the Storting, and will ask the Minister of Justice to clear things up. Photo: Folkevalgt / news – Very unfortunate Venstre’s Ingvild Wetrhus Thorsvik is concerned that the possibility of family reunification is there because real family life must be protected. – It is very unfortunate that formalities are allowed to overshadow these considerations. I expect the government to clean up this matter, she says. Grete Wold in SV thinks it seems that the majority in favor of a more restrictive refugee policy is now showing up in the proceedings. Grete Wold from SV is speechless at the treatment Asifa and Samir Ahmadi have been subjected to by the Norwegian immigration authorities. Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news – This gives us distrust of the foreigner who makes unreasonable statements. Reason must prevail here soon, she says. The Ministry of Justice has replied to news by e-mail. They only refer to the processing of the case by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) and the Norwegian Immigration Service. UDI has previously confirmed to news that Ahmadi’s application for permission to remarry in Norway was refused. This was, among other things, because the couple does not fulfill the conditions for entering into marriage in Norway, according to UDI: – According to Afghan law, the couple is married. In order to enter into marriage in Norway, neither party must be married. It has no significance in this context that the marriage is not recognized in Norway, Anita Kjersem-Drageset, head of UDI Ophold, tells news. UNE tells news that the reason they are not reversing the refusal is that the marriage cannot be recognized in Norway. The reason is that information was first given that Ahmadi was not present when the marriage was concluded. – The documentation and explanation that has been presented later has not had sufficient notoriety or credibility to change the outcome, writes unit leader in the Immigration Board, Ingun Halle. – It is such that all complainants have an independent responsibility to ensure that correct information is provided, she writes. – Crazy and painful For Samir, it’s about living without the one he loves, and feeling the loss every single day. – It is very hard and painful to live alone without her. We are, after all, at our prime age to start a family, but we do not meet any understanding from the Norwegian authorities, he says. Because the Afghan authorities made a mistake when they registered the marriage. The date was wrong, and thus Norwegian immigration authorities do not believe that Samir was present at his own wedding. Samir Ahmadi is distraught that he cannot live with the one he loves. – It is both hard and painful every single day, he says. Photo: Espen Sandmo / news – This date error has been corrected by the authorities in Afghanistan, but it does not help. The marriage will not be approved, he says. The Marriage Act in Norway does not accept so-called “surrogate weddings”. And since the Norwegian authorities believe that both were not present when they got married, they have therefore refused the application for family reunification in Norway. Now is the last chance to go to court with the case, so that they can look at the legality of the refusal from the Norwegian immigration authorities. Asifa and Samir Ahmadi were married in Afghanistan in 2016, but the mess with the wedding date has had major consequences for the possibility of family reunification in Norway. Photo: Private – Cannot intervene The Labor Party’s immigration policy spokesperson, Lene Vågslid, believes that politicians cannot intervene in such matters. She nevertheless understands that the case is found to be frustrating. – It is the Immigration Service and not the Storting that will process applications for family reunification, she says. – I don’t think anyone really wants politicians to deal with matters such as family reunification. We have no prerequisites to do that. We are responsible for the legislation, UDI and UNE for the administration of the legislation, points out Vågslid. Lene Vågslid is the immigration policy spokesperson for the Labor Party, and believes that politicians should not interfere in immigration matters. Photo: Jon Petrusson Taking the case to the Storting But both the Left, SV and Redt will take this case further to the Storting. Rødt will take it up directly with Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) in the Storting in the near future. – This is an example of someone who tries to follow the rules to the best of their ability, but still they are not believed because of bureaucratic rules. Now the Minister of Justice must intervene to look at the case again, says Tobias Drevland Lund to news.
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Asks the Minister of Justice to sort things out for Samir Ahmadi and his wife Asifa who will not get family reunification – news Trøndelag
