'Don't split us up' plea from Killucan man and US love
A Killucan man has spoken of his fears that he and his American girlfriend will be unable to make a life in Ireland due to bureaucratic red tape.
Philip Keogh (24) and his girlfriend of three years, Californian native Kristin Hollowell (26), were recently informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that her application for a De Facto Relationship Permission Visa was being denied due to the fact that they have not been co-habiting for the stipulated two years.
While the young couple, who met in June 2011 at a convention for youth workers in Cork, were aware that they did not meet the co-habitation criteria due to Kristin’s work situation, Philip told the Westmeath Examiner that they believed that if they provided enough evidence of their shared life, the application would be successful.
Visa applications can take up to six months, but Philip and Kristin were surprised when hers came back a little over a week after it was submitted in mid-June.
“We presented the INIS with an extensive folder of evidence, which was almost 200 pages in length, to prove our relationship was genuine. We feel we went above and beyond the required information by providing extensive details of personal lives, finances, and a host of other information such as photos, emails and Facebook activity.
“According to the date stamp on the refusal letter we received, our application was refused within a short period of it arriving to INIS. It was clear that the INIS officer did not address the full depth of our application. To have our relationship simply dismissed in such a manner is both frustrating and hurtful.”
For the last four years, Kristin has been working in Ireland – first as a chaplain and youth worker in Rosscarbery, County Cork, and in Midleton College, a Church of Ireland boarding school, also in Cork. Both positions provided accommodation.
“Apart from the fact that I cannot live in a boarding school or church accommodation, as I am not a member of the church nor are we married, I have also moved around Ireland over the last three years to work in paid and voluntary positions as a youth worker, a carer for a terminally ill family member, and an autism social care worker.
“We intend to live together in the future and we were hoping that our situation would be properly taken into consideration so that we could finally do this. Kristin is currently restrained by the guidelines of the visa where she can’t earn an income or work outside of her role. However with the de facto visa, Kristin would be able to accept a new paid position being offered to her by Midleton College next year. This position was created specifically for Kristin because of the amazing work she does for young people in Midleton. However, this position does not meet the full wage requirements for a work permit. The de facto visa would negate this requirement for a work permit, allowing Kristin to accept the job and for us to live together.”
While Kristin’s current visa lasts until November, Philip, who had intended to return to college in Cork in September to do a masters in youth work, says that their “lives are up in the air at the moment”.
“We feel that our situation is unique but others could also find themselves in this situation and we would like to lead by example and fight our case. INIS has a specific set of religious service visas, therefore it should also be aware of special circumstances that arise based on these visas.
“We feel insulted by the fact that we were told that our relationship was not 'akin to marriage’ simply by the fact that we cannot live together at this moment in time. Married couples all over the world live and work in separate countries and many religious couples live separately outside of marriage. We feel we have proven our relationship to be worthy of consideration for this visa.”