Foreign couple protests its right to Malta marriage

A Nigerian migrant who overstayed his visa and his German would-be wife are claiming that their human rights were violated when they were barred from marrying in Malta.

Ogunyami Olusegum and Sandra Wetterich had the publication of their marriage banns refused by the Public Registry on the basis that the Nigerian man did not have a visa to be in Malta.

Mr Olusegum had arrived in Malta in February 2004 to follow a course at the International Institute of Aging. He started dating Ms Wetterich who had lived here since she was 10 and the couple started living together in 2005.

His visa expired in 2007 and was not renewed, along with his work permit even though he was studying, the court heard.

On this basis, the Public Registry refused to publish the couple's banns.

This, Mr Olusegum and Ms Wetterich insist, violated their fundamental human rights because, as an EU citizen, Ms Wetternich was entitled to establish her family life in Malta. The state could not impede her marriage to a non-EU citizen.

The couple cited an EU directive, which stipulates that a non-EU national who marries an EU citizen is entitled to be established within the EU. The couple called upon the First Hall of the Civil Court to declare that their rights had been violated and to provide them with a remedy.

Lawyer Owen Bonnici acted for the couple.