A bureaucratic nightmare

The case concerns a couple from Ivory Coast, who had been legally residing in Palermo, Sicily, for a number of years, and their son, who was born in Italy two years ago. After the birth of the child, his mother decided to move to Germany with him to find work. However, she was soon expelled by German authorities and sent back to Ivory Coast. This was both surprising and unlawful, because the woman had a residence permit for family reasons, while her husband was legally residing in Palermo.

After arriving in Ivory Coast, the mother soon decided to return to Italy. The Italian Embassy allowed her to do so, as she had a residence permit, although it did not grant a residence permit to her son. Despite the fact that the child was born in Italy, the Embassy asked the Ivorian couple to follow family reunion procedures to allow their child to re-enter Italy. However, this procedure was prohibitively expensive for them.

After repeated requests, success

The couple repeatedly requested that the Embassy allow their child to travel to Italy, considering his young age and poor health, which requires specific medical care that cannot be guaranteed in Ivory Coast. However, the situation did not improve and in light of this a lawyer from the association Progetto Diritti, Gaetano Mario Pasqualino, brought the case to the Court of Palermo to obtain a ruling authorising the child’s immediate re-entry into Italy.

In examining the couple’s requests, the Court considered the child’s age, health problems and the fact that the parents had legitimately applied to renew their residence permits in Italy. Accordingly, the Court accepted the couple's requests, ordering the Italian Embassy in Ivory Coast to issue an Italian entry permit for the child.