Citizenship and passport processes in Northern Ireland
Emma DeSouza challenged the British government's failure to uphold rights pertaining to citizenship in post-conflict Northern Ireland.
Emma DeSouza took a case in 2015 when an application for a residence card for her US-born husband was rejected.
The Home Office had requested that she either reapply as a British citizen or renounce her British citizenship and pay a fee to apply as an Irish citizen, for her husband's application to reside in Northern Ireland to be approved. However, Emma DeSouza said she did not consider herself a British citizen and therefore had no need to renounce it, having always identified as Irish.
Emma DeSouza had been challenging the government, using the Good Friday Agreement as the basis of her argument.
In 2020, the government said family members of British or dual British-Irish citizens from Northern Ireland would be able to apply for status through the EU settlement scheme, a post Brexit process.
Further information
Written Evidence by Emma DeSouza to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on its inquiry into ‘Citizenship and Passport Processes in Northern Ireland’
BBC News: Emma DeSouza withdraws Home Office court appeal