Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) The Constitutional Court on Friday ruled that the Supreme Administrative Court was right to reject an appeal by a Taiwanese woman against a lower administrative court ruling that denied her Vietnamese husband a resident visa on the grounds that she has no standing in the case.
The case originated with a Vietnamese-Taiwanese surnamed Nguyen whose appeal asking Taipei High Administrative Court to rule on the government's decision that denied her husband's application for a resident visa was rejected.
Nguyen's husband applied for a resident visa to reunite with Nguyen and their children in Taiwan, through the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam.
His application was rejected because the authorities suspected it was based on a fake marriage, prompting Nguyen to take the case to Taipei High Administrative Court in August 2014.
Taipei High Administrative Court rejected Nguyen's appeal, citing a resolution adopted by the Supreme Administrative Court that such appeals by Taiwanese must be dismissed because a decision to not grant a resident visa to a foreign spouse does not infringe on their rights.
After the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the lower administrative court's ruling in July 2015, Nguyen sought an interpretation from the Constitutional Court on the issue. She argued that the administrative court violated her right to file a suit, marry and form a family.
In Friday's ruling, the Constitutional Court said that the Taiwanese spouse of a foreign national has no standing to bring such a case to an administrative court because only individuals who hold a foreign passport have the right to apply for a visa or other entry documents.
The Constitutional Court said it did not find the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling on Nguyen's case contradicted her right to bring litigation or right to marry as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Anyone whose rights or legal interests are undermined by a government agency's decision is entitled to file a suit for the revocation of said decision with an administrative court in accordance with Article 4 of the Administrative Litigation Act, the Constitutional Court noted.
As such, the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling did not exclude Nguyen from exercising the right to file an appeal with an administrative court for the revocation of the ministry's decision on her husband's application for a resident visa. It merely indicated that she has no standing to ask for the decision to be changed, the Constitutional Court judgment said.
