Real cases, real results

Lost his residence permit after three years in Kurdistan – granted a new permit in Sweden

A man (47) had lived in Kurdistan for three years. When we contacted the Swedish authorities on his behalf, it turned out he had been deleted from the system and had lost his residence permit.

We appealed. Sweden first rejected the appeal: the three-week deadline was counted from the day the permit was withdrawn – two years earlier.

We argued that the appeal deadline only starts on the day he actually read the decision letter, pointing to circumstances beyond his control: he had sick parents to care for, the embassy in the region was closed, and he had no valid travel documents to return to Sweden. He won, and the case was reopened.

The old permit was lost, but he was granted a new residence permit due to his long ties to Sweden – and his children there.

Lost her permanent residence permit after four years in Kurdistan – allowed to return to Norway

A woman moved from Norway to Kurdistan, married there and stayed away from Norway for four years. Norway revoked her permanent residence permit after only two years' absence – without her knowing about the decision.

We contacted the authorities and obtained the revocation decision. Then we appealed it.

Norway first argued that the three-week appeal deadline had passed. We pointed to the law: the deadline only runs from the day she actually became aware of the decision.

We presented evidence that she had been prevented from returning to Norway by circumstances beyond her control. We also pointed to cultural and religious norms in Kurdistan, where a woman cannot travel freely without consent, and supported this with a number of general reports on Kurdistan from international organisations.

With expedited processing she was granted a temporary residence permit and could return to Norway – four months after we took on the case.