Emma DeSouza secures landmark concession from British government over immigration laws

The change to the law means anyone from a country outside the European Union and married to someone born in Northern Ireland can now apply to remain in the United Kingdom as an EU family member.

Mrs. DeSouza has been campaigning since 2017 when she attempted to secure a residence-card for her American husband, Jake DeSouza.

Mrs. DeSouza identified herself as Irish in the application but it was rejected by the UK Home Office on the basis it regarded her a British citizen because she was born in Northern Ireland.

The UK Home Office told Mrs. DeSouza she could reapply identifying herself as British or renounce her UK citizenship and reapply as an Irish citizen.

At the time, Mrs. DeSouza said she had “discovered that my lifelong Irish identity is evidently considered secondary to an unclaimed British identity.”

The UK Home Office made the change to the law in parliament on Thursday.

“The rule changes also mean that family members of British or dual British-Irish citizens from Northern Ireland will be able to apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

“This delivers on the commitment the UK government made in the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ agreement in January 2020 which restored the power sharing executive in Northern Ireland,” said the UK Home Office.

The change means British and Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland will be treated as EU citizens for immigration purposes and will have the right to have a non-EU or non-EEA country spouse remain in the UK.

The new legislation will, however, cease when the EU settled status scheme ends in June 2021.

It also means that British citizens born in Northern Ireland have greater immigration rights than their English, Scottish and Welsh counterparts.