All of the deported families with children have now received an answer to their requests for reversal.
Twenty-eight deported families have made use of the scheme and requested that their cases be reconsidered.
The result is that:
- four families with children have been granted permits, one of whom has returned to Norway
- 24 families with children have had their previous rejection upheld after consideration in board hearings
Individual assessments
The Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) will now go through the decisions and review the assessments made by our independent decision-makers in each individual case. The results will be explained in detail when this work has been completed.
So far, all of the cases have been considered on an individual and concrete basis. UNE has followed the practice that applies after the rules for considering children’s connection to Norway were amended in December 2014. The outcome of the cases must therefore be seen in light of this practice, which is based on the following:
- It is only in cases where an accompanying child in a family has lived in Norway for about four years and six months and attended school at least one year that the child's connection to Norway may give grounds for a residence permit. Factors other than the period of stay and schooling may influence the outcome of the case.
- The best interests of the child shall be a fundamental consideration. The child’s connection to Norway is an important factor in the assessment of the child’s best interests, but other factors may also be significant. The child’s best interests are always considered on the basis of the individual child’s situation.
- Whether a permit is granted depends on a concrete assessment of these considerations against immigration regulatory considerations. Important immigration regulatory considerations can weigh against granting a permit, even if the family has lived in Norway for more than four years and six months. This could be, for example, that the parents have stated a false identity or withheld identity documents that have impeded a return to their country of origin. The importance of such circumstances have been considered in each individual case.
UNE (and the Directorate of Immigration) also grants residence permits each year on humanitarian grounds to families with children who have lived in Norway for less than four years and six months. In such cases, considerations other than the connection to Norway will usually form the basis for the permit, for example the child’s health and care situation.
Background
The Regulations that entered into force on 15 June 2015 give a limited group of families with children a right to have their cases reconsidered.
The Regulations applies to children who:
- are currently staying abroad, and
- were forcibly returned in the period between 1 July 2014 and 18 March 2015, and
- have lived in Norway for at least four years, and
- have not had their case considered after the rules for considering children’s connection to Norway were amended in December 2014.
Of the 30 families that the Regulations concern, 28 wished to have their cases reconsidered. The families comprise about 125 persons, about half of whom are children who have lived in Norway for more than four years.
Facts about the cases
- Most of the families with children are from Afghanistan or Nigeria.
- Most of the families had lived in Norway between four years and four years and six months when they were deported.
- All of the cases, except two that were granted, have been decided by different boards comprising one board chair and two lay board members.
- A total of 41 different decision-makers have participated in the consideration of the cases.