A Zambian man living in Ireland with his Irish partner and their two Irish-born children has brought a High Court challenge to the Minister for Justice's refusal to allow him remain here.
Chiyaze Luyako, a former member of the Zambian army who attended cadet school here on behalf of the Zambian army, is living with his partner and their two children in Co Kildare. The couple are expecting their third child.
He came here in 1995, developed a relationship with Laura Murphy and remained here until 1997 when he returned to Zambia. He said he remained in contact with Ms Murphy who gave birth to their first child in February 1998.
Mr Luyako said he was unable to visit Ireland again until January 2004. Ms Murphy had then visited him in Zambia in August 2004 as a result of which she became pregnant with their second child, who was born in Ireland in May 2005.
He said it became a matter of "significant distress" to him that he was apart from his partner and their children and he had decided, after the birth of their second child, to resign from the Zambian army and come to Ireland to join his family.
Having been refused a residency visa, he said he was told the only way to enter Ireland and live with his family was to secure a visitor's visa. He did so and came here on March 15th 2006 with a visa valid until March 30th 2006 but remained in Ireland after that date.
The case continues.
