Relief refused to undocumented migrant as supporting documentation held insufficient for residence scheme

The High Court refused an application for judicial review by a Zimbabwean national, who challenged the Minister for Justice's refusal to grant her residence permission under Ireland's Regularisation of Long-Term Undocumented Migrants Scheme. The applicant, undocumented in the State since 2010, argued she had provided sufficient evidence to meet the scheme’s four-year continuous residency requirement and that the Minister had applied the evidential criteria too strictly. The court found that, although the applicant had submitted supporting letters and evidence of money transfers made by a friend to her children, this did not constitute the required verifiable proof of her own continuous residence for the relevant period. The judge concluded that the Minister was entitled to expect more direct and satisfactory documentation, and the application for relief was refused, with costs provisionally awarded to the Minister.