Man claims he was not allowed to marry Russian girlfriend

A man yesterday filed a constitutional application claiming that his fundamental right to setting up his own family had been breached when the authorities did not allow him to marry his Russian fiancée.

Duncan Agius filed the application against the principal immigration officer and the marriage registrar.

He explained that he had been engaged to Alexandra Popova for the past two-and-a-half years and the couple wanted to get married. In order to satisfy the criteria laid down by law the marriage banns had to be issued and had to be applied for six weeks before the planned marriage date.

Due to internal regulations and/or other directives the marriage registrar refused to order the banns if a foreigner did not have a visa to stay in Malta for six weeks or more.

Ms Popova came to Malta, for the third time, on January 21, to marry Mr Agius. At the end of January the couple went to the marriage registry to apply for their marriage and were informed that Ms Popova needed a six-week visa to be accepted.

Ms Popova applied for a visa and on May 3 the immigration authorities informed her that her request had been turned down and she had to leave Malta by May 10.

Mr Agius said he had the right to have his own family and this included marrying anyone he chose.

He argued that, through their actions, the principal immigration officer and the marriage registrar had breached his fundamental human rights. He called on the court to provide him with the necessary remedies by ensuring that Ms Popova's visa was issued so she could satisfy legal criteria and marry him.

Dr José Herrera and Dr Shazoo Ghaznavi signed the application.