Irish court overturns Gazan student’s visa refusal

The Irish High Court has overturned a decision to deny a study visa to a student in Gaza after finding significant “errors” in the way her application was handled.

Shaymaa Abudalu, 20, had secured a fully funded place on a four-year engineering degree programme at University College Cork but her visa had been refused by Ireland’s minister of justice Jim O’Callaghan on the grounds that insufficient documentation had been submitted to support her application.  

The judge has ordered the minister to review the application and issue a fresh decision within 10 working days.

Abudalu’s challenge to the visa refusal is being treated by her legal team as a lead case that could potentially have implications for other Palestinian students contesting visa refusals.

It follows the minister O’Callaghan himself overturning visa rejections of three students last week but rejecting one student’s appeal.

In the latest case, the judge said there were “significant and demonstrable errors”, referring to a failure by the state to consider documents submitted by Abudalu that showed evidence of her English-language proficiency and a financial summary form. The government had argued that despite these errors, the overall visa refusal should still stand. 

The court also ruled that Abudalu should not be forced to rely on the normal appeal process, as it may not be completed in time to allow her to take up her place at the university if her visa is approved. 

Abudalu’s mother and many of her siblings were killed in an Israeli air strike in 2024, the court heard. She later sat her final school exams and obtained a score of 96.7 per cent. 

Dozens of other Palestinian students who have secured university places and scholarships in Ireland remain in Gaza following the visa refusals.

seher.asaf@timeshighereducation.com