The applicant, a Moldovan national, applied for judicial review of the deportation order made against her. She had failed to attend an interview with the Refugee Applications Commissioner after three requests were sent to the address she had supplied. Shortly after arrival in Ireland she and her companion, who she later married, had been transferred to a different address by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA). Her husband-to-be had notified the authorities of his change of address and his asylum application was progressed. The applicant did not inform the authorities of the change of address. She argued that there was no necessity on her part to notify the Department of a change of address, in circumstances where the Department had provided the applicant with a new address and had directed her to live there.
The Court refused the application for judicial review and held that there was a clear obligation on the applicant pursuant to Section 6 of the Immigration Act 1999 to notify the Minister of a change of address. The Court noted that in the absence of a detention policy the notification of a change of address was the method by which applicants could participate in the asylum process while having some freedom of movement. The Court found also that the RIA was a separate and distinct entity from the Refugee Applications Commissioner or the Minister.
