Cyprus appeal court annuls sham-marriage finding in Nigerian man's case
The Administrative Court of Appeal ruled that immigration authorities failed to weigh key evidence, including a joint savings account, before branding a Cypriot-Nigerian couple's marriage a sham.
Cyprus's Administrative Court of Appeal has scrapped an administrative decision that a marriage between a Nigerian man and a Cypriot woman was a sham, as reported by Cyprus Mail. Judges concluded that the authorities reached their conclusion without properly weighing all the material they held.
The couple wed in September 2019 and were interviewed separately on 20 February 2021, when no inconsistencies were recorded. The woman later told officials she lived with her parents to hide the union from relatives who opposed it, and the court said a letter her parents sent on 1 August 2022 asking for his permit to be revoked actually confirmed the marriage and her attachment to him.
The court also noted that a joint savings account statement and a newer address supplied in June 2022 were not examined, and it annulled the sham ruling while awarding the man 3,000 euros in costs plus VAT against the Republic of Cyprus. His designation as a prohibited immigrant and the deportation and detention orders were not part of the appeal and remain in force.
What it means for residents
The case sets a marker for how migration files are reviewed: officials are expected to examine bank records, address updates and family testimony before declaring a marriage fake. For mixed-nationality couples on the island, the ruling is a reminder to keep documentary proof of shared life.
- Keep paperwork. Joint accounts, tenancy details and correspondence showing where you actually live can matter if a file is ever questioned.
- Status unchanged. Overturning the sham finding does not by itself cancel deportation or entry-ban measures, which have to be challenged separately.
- Timing counts. Evidence handed in before a decision is made should be weighed, and the court found that did not happen here.
This text is written from the source article and is not a translation of it.
