TA court disqualifies foreign worker's deportation
Despite previous court rulings, Interior Ministry determined three times marriage of Philippine woman to Israeli man were a sham. Tel Aviv District Court judge revokes third warrant of deportation issued against woman
The Interior Ministry accused a foreign worker from the Philippines that her marriage to an Israeli man were a sham a total of three times. Time and time again the Interior Ministry annulled the woman's marriage and issued three deportation warrants against her, despite various court rulings.
The Tel Aviv District Court's Judge Sarah Gadot ruled that the deportation was illegal and ordered the ministry to allow the woman to continue with her citizenship procedures.
"Interior Ministry staff abide by an undeclared and illegal policy whereby they are obligated to make the lives of non-Jews who are eligible to reside in Israel a living hell," the couple's attorney Dr. Theodore Schwartzberg said. He claims that the ministry disregarded court rulings in this case and many other cases.
The woman, a Philippine who worked in nursing, met an Israeli man who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. The two fell in love and married in a civil ceremony. In accordance with the Israeli law, the woman began citizenship procedures which normally last four years.
As part of the process, the couple was summoned to a hearing at the Interior Ministry in order to verify the genuineness of their marriage. They were each separately asked to answer 10 identical questions about their partners. Having compared their answers, the ministry determined the marriage was false due to inconsistencies and issued a deportation warrant against the woman.
Consequently, the couple filed a petition with the High Court of Justice against the wife's deportation. The state accepted their claims and allowed the woman to continue with her citizenship procedure. It was also decided to grant her temporary resident status enabling her to work in Israel.
A year later the Interior Ministry again summoned the couple for a hearing and again it determined the test showed the marriage was a sham. The ministry therefore issued another deportation warrant despite the High Court ruling.
The couple filed yet another petition, this time with the Tel Aviv District Court, demanding it order the Interior Ministry to proceed with the citizenship procedure. The court ruled in favor of the couple and ordered the ministry to pay for the woman's legal costs amounting to NIS 17,000 (roughly $4,640).
3 petitions, 3 warrants
A year later the couple were summoned to a third hearing at the Interior Ministry following the woman's attempt to renew her status in Israel. They were given the same test verify the genuineness of their marriage and again the ministry came to the conclusion it was a sham. The couple's attorney therefore decided to ask the ministry to disclose the hearing's protocols.
The protocols suggested that out of dozens of questions, the couple made only a few mistakes: The husband did not know whether his wife was 40 or 41 and did not remember her daughter's name who he has never seen, while the wife did not remember her husband's brother's name.
Recently, the Tel Aviv District Court ruled in favor of the couple a second time and ordered the deportation procedure be stopped and the woman allowed to be made a citizen.
The judge stated that the ministry's considerations for the annulment of the marriage were not sufficiently substantial.
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