Vietnamese Couple Receive Residence Permit

The Vietnamese couple accused by the Directorate of Immigration (UTL) of a sham marriage have received permanent residence permits, reports Vísir.

“Well it’s obviously very nice that the case should be handled so quickly, six days after it hit the papers,” said the couple’s lawyer, Björg Valgeirsdóttir. “I’ve never seen a case processed as quickly as this and we welcome that.”

As reported, UTL went to extraordinary lengths to investigate the “sincerity” the couple’s marriage in what would usually be an open and shut case. These actions included implying the couple could be imprisoned during interviews with them and using illegally obtained information from the National University Hospital of Iceland (Landspítali).

Yesterday the couple filed charges against the hospital for breach of confidentiality and violation of privacy – the hospital only has the right to report on patient information to Child Protective Services – but have since been granted a permanent residence permit.

The couple first met when the woman, 22, visited Iceland in 2013, as she has family in the country. The man, who has a permanent residence permit, has lived in Iceland since childhood. Later that same year, she became pregnant and they got married. Their daughter was born in September 2014.