TV 2 has previously told about the crisis single mother Johanna Vidalon (46) and son Konstantinos (14) came in when UNE would throw them out of the country just before Christmas in 2019.
Then they had lived in Norway for almost four years, my mother had two jobs and Konstantinos, who was 12 at the time, enjoyed himself and did well at school.
But UNE decided to deport them when Vidalon’s then-husband chose to return to Greece.
– It is very hard to think that life can suddenly change, said a desperate Vidalon to TV 2.
A recent EFTA ruling now gives the family new hope, because the court disagrees with UNE’s interpretation of the rules.
“We believe that justice will win in the end,” Vidalon said after the court heard their case.
She and her son were granted residence in 2015 when they came from Greece to Norway as family members of an EEA citizen, who was the stepfather of Konstantinos.
– Must support himself
When the ex-husband returned to Greece, Vidalon applied for further residence in Norway through family reunification with his son. This is because Konstantinos is a Greek EEA citizen, while she still has Peruvian citizenship.
That was when UNE claimed that the son had to have his own income in order for them to have the right to reside in Norway according to the EEA regulations.
– If you as an EEA citizen want to stay in Norway, and also have family members here, then you have to support yourself and possibly family members, said department head Marianne Granlund in UNE to TV 2.
Since the 12-year-old did not have a job and his own income, the family did not meet the EEA requirement for residence, UNE believed.
– Konstantinos Alexandros Siatis (12) Photo: Sveinung Kyte
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UNE’s claim that Konstantinos had to support himself and his mother provoked strong reactions among both law professors and politicians.
The Labor Party’s Masud Garahkhani called UNE’s decision «høl i hue».
One of Norway’s foremost EEA experts Finn Arnesen was also critical to the interpretation.
UNE opened after the strong reactions that they had interpreted the EEA rules too strictly, canceled the departure deadline and gave the family temporary residence until the case is decided in Oslo District Court.
Right to go to school
The EFTA Court has now ruled that children who are EEA citizens – such as Kontantinos – have an independent right to stay in the host country they are in.
- Children of EEA citizens who are in the education system have the right to complete schooling. This right applies even if the provider is no longer a labor immigrant in the country.
- The rights also include stepchildren, and they have the right to have guardians with them, according to the EFTA Court.
It was Right 24 who first mentioned the verdict.
The requirement that Konstantinos must work falls away with the court’s decision, according to lawyer Felix Olivier Helle.
– How important is the verdict?
– I think it is very important, it means that both children and parents have the right to stay in Norway, he says.
– The judgment states that children have the right to have the caregiver with them, otherwise the right to school would not have had any meaning. You can not demand that a 12-year-old manage on his own, says Helle.
– The chances of winning strengthened
He sued UNE on behalf of the family to have the refusal overturned, and the Konstantinos case ended up in the EFTA Court because the Oslo District Court asked for an advisory opinion on how the rules should be understood.
UNE answers the question as to whether they will now reverse the decision in the case on the basis of the EFTA judgment:
– In all cases that are to be dealt with in court, UNE assesses the significance that new circumstances and new sources of law may have for the case. We must now see what significance this can have for this type of case, and for this case, says department head in UNE, Marianne Granlund, to TV 2.
Helle says the district court is required to place great emphasis on decisions in the EFTA Court.
“I have always believed that there are good chances of winning in court, and I believe the opportunity has been strengthened after the verdict,” he says.
Large load
Johanna Vidalon says that as a foreigner she has always seen Norway as a country that cares about human rights. She says that she has learned from her Norwegian stepfather that Norwegians are upright and trustworthy.
– Johanna Vidalon and Konstantinos have lived in uncertainty for several years after UNE’s decision. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
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– When I came to Norway, where my sister and family live, I was sure that I had come to a country with good future prospects for the children. But the UDI’s treatment has made me lose faith that everyone should receive fair treatment, as I thought Norway stood for, she says, and adds:
– Unfortunately, many people experience it in the same way.
The treatment has been a great burden for the family, which also includes Konstanino’s big brother, who lives in Norway on his own basis.
– Everyone is fine, we look forward to the Christmas celebration, and believe that we will win in the end, says Vidalon.
The Ministry will read the verdict new
All citizens within the EU and the EEA countries have the right to free movement across national borders, and with it also comes the right to bring family members while staying in an EEA country such as Norway.
UNE’s interpretation of the regulations in this specific case led to EFTA’s powerful monitoring body ESA opened a case against Norway.
The conclusion of ESA was that Norway violated the EEA rules on children’s right to free movement between the countries in the Konstantinos case.
ESA ensures that the EEA regulations are followed by the member countries, as in the NAV scandal.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (ASD) is responsible for Norway complying with EEA rules.
The Ministry comments on the EFTA judgment:
– ASD will read the statement from the EFTA Court carefully. The actual case the statement is about, will be decided in Oslo District Court. The state at the Immigration Appeals Board is a party to the case and ASD has no comments on the statement beyond that.
New instructions to the UDI after the Konstantinos case
However, the ministry points out that in October they sent one new instructions to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) on the basis of ESA’s conclusion in the Konstantinos case, independent of the trial.
– The instruction states that the EEA citizen’s stepchildren shall have the right to reside in accordance with the EEA regulations in Norway. The instruction clarifies that stepchildren of EEA citizens have the right to stay and complete their schooling if the EEA citizen leaves Norway. It also states that the child’s main provider is given the right of residence in such situations, the ministry states.
Now UNE stands alone in its view, says Helle.
– Do you believe that UNE will reverse the refusal so that the family receives a clarification quickly?
– It is very rare that they withdraw something, but it would have been nice, he says.
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