Samir Ahmadi (27) came to Norway from Afghanistan in 2010. He is now a Norwegian citizen, has a permanent job, and lives in his own home in Namsos. On 25 August 2016, he married his childhood sweetheart Asifa (28) in Afghanistan. The next step on the road for the young couple is to move in together and start a family. But this has proven to be challenging. The authorities in Afghanistan have been buzzing with the dates for the wedding. – UDI must have thought that I was not present at my own wedding, and that we are therefore not married, says Ahmadi to news. 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. But the problems for the couple do not stop here. Got rejected again – It’s very hard to live alone in a big house here in Namsos without my wife, whom I love so much, says the 27-year-old to news. Samir Ahmadi has therefore complained about the refusal, and the Afghan authorities admitted that they had written the wrong date in the papers and confused the engagement day with the day of the wedding, so that it looks like Ahmadi was not there. But the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) still did not want to accept family reunification in Norway, and said no again. A complaint to the Norwegian Immigration Service (UNE) was unsuccessful. The young couple tried to think differently and therefore applied for an engagement visa. In that way, Asifa could have come to Norway, so that they can remarry. – But then we were told that it was not possible, as we were already married in Afghanistan, says a frustrated Ahmadi, and continues: – It seems almost impossible to be reunited with Asifa here in Norway. UDI confirms 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. Samir Ahmadi thrives in Namsos, but misses his wife very much. – It hurts to live alone without her, he says. Photo: Espen Sandmo / news – Completely unreasonable, Ahmadi’s lawyer believes the family has ended up in a kind of bureaucratic no-man’s land. He says the authorities have misunderstood the engagement and wedding date. – We think it is completely unreasonable to demand that Samir go back to Afghanistan to get a divorce. To then enter into marriage with Asifa in Norway, says lawyer Aleksander Skogrand Pedersen. The lawyer refers, among other things, to the precarious security situation in the country, and the conditions in the state apparatus, which are completely different from those in Norway. – Can’t accept the marriage UNE writes in an e-mail to 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. Lawyer Aleksander Skogrand Pedersen believes the case has ended up in a bureaucratic no-man’s land. Photo: Morten Andersen / news Court is the last hope Ahmadi has also appealed the decision from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration to the State Administrator, and applied for recognition of the marriage that was entered into in Afghanistan. – The state administrator has refused to process the case, because he is considered “not unmarried”, says lawyer Skogrand Pedersen. The last resort is to go to court and ask for a court to deal with the case, he says. – The court then has a duty to hear the case, and must try to determine whether the marriage can be approved as Norwegian, says Skogrand Pedersen. Asifa and Samir Ahmadi have been married for over six years, but she is still not allowed to move to Norway to live with her husband. Photo: Private – It’s hard to live alone without her The married couple talk on the phone several times a week. – I think it is very unreasonable that we should not be allowed to live together. We are legally married, and it hurts to have to live apart the way we do now. It makes me sad to think about it, says Ahmadi. – The two of us are at our best age to start a family. But it doesn’t work. Now he is going to court to appeal the refusal of family reunification. – Yes, it is the last possibility to go to court to resolve the case. Unfortunately, I’m not that optimistic, but I’m crossing my fingers that sooner or later we can live together. As the situation is in Afghanistan at the moment, it is currently not relevant for me to move back there, Ahmadi tells news. – This story is one example of how sadly the bureaucracy works for foreigners in Norway. There is often long waiting time, unreasonable decisions, arbitrariness and unmanageable regulations. Most people probably have no idea how the system works, and how many destinies there are. Probably not many politicians either, believes lawyer Skogrand Pedersen.
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Samir Ahmadi from Afghanistan has waited for six years to get his wife to Namsos and Norway – news Trøndelag
