Oddly enough, not always in stories about immigrants from the United States and Russia as IDPs are citizens of the Russian Federation. Sometimes it is the opposite. For example, American Jennifer Gaspar has long wished to become a citizen of the Russian Federation. Despite the fact that the woman lived for more than 13 years in this country, the government refused to grant residence permit. However, Gaspar wasn’t going to just give up and get justice in the European court of human rights (European Court of Human Rights).
The story begins in 2014. By this time American for several years was married to a Russian lawyer Ivan Pavlov. They had a child together, but it was not possible to live peacefully together because of the American citizenship Jennifer. She worked as a consultant for the Russian non-profit organizationsthat applied to receive foreign grants.
Obviously, her work was the reason that the Federal migration service refused to provide the Gaspar residence. In taking this decision, the Executive referred to the conclusion of the FSB. It said that a woman carries «a threat to national security of Russia». The document she has not demonstrated.
After some time, the FMS gave additional explanations. It was said that Gaspar refused the residence permit according to the law «On legal status of foreigners«. One of its paragraphs reads: the residence permit of a foreign citizen may be revoked if he «advocated a violent change of the constitutional system of Russia«. The woman was surprised that this wording is used in relation to it.
Attempts to assert their rights in a Russian court ended in failure. First district court of St.-Petersburg has accepted the decision of the FMS legal, and after their example was followed by the members of the city court. However, even during the proceedings document based on which was issued the refusal, the court was not provided. The authorities relied on secrecy, put to prison.
«Instead of the document showed an empty statement, which presents the conclusion that Jennifer is a security risk. After receiving the statement, the court said that was enough,» says the husband Gaspar Ivan Pavlov.
Desperate to find support in the Russian Federation, the couple appealed to the ECHR (European court of human rights). There considered the claim of American women and decided to collect from Russia of €14 thousand for «violation of the right to respect for family life». Of this amount, €12.5 thousand are paying for non-pecuniary damage, and €1.6 million — compensation of court costs. Representatives of the Russian Federation yet does not comment on the decision of the ECHR.
