The Consulate denied the visa suspecting the guaranteed return of the applicant.
The DIplomat. Madrid
The Spanish Supreme Court made a judgement that revokes the decision of the Consulate in Havana- subsequently endorsed by the High Court of Justice in Madrid- denying a Cuban citizen a 30-day tourist visa to visit her mother in Spain.
The Consulate denied the short stay visa disbelieving the guaranteed return of the applicant to her country of origin, in spite of her having an airline ticket with a return date within the 30 days for which the visa was requested. According to the verdict by the Supreme Court, the Administration suspected this return to country of origin guarantee “given the actions of other relatives of the applicant” which the Court considered was not sufficient grounds in itself for reaching conclusions of a failure to return.
The Supreme Court thereby recognises the right of the woman, of 36 years of age, to obtain the requested short stay Spanish visa, basing it on the following; having a return airline ticket, Madrid-Havana, with a departure date of 8 February 2014 and a return date on the following 6 March (in other words of not more than 30 days); the trip had the logical objective of visiting her mother in Spain (who holds Spanish nationality and lives in Mallorca); the applicant had roots in Cuba where her three minor children reside; and she had a stable employment situation in her country.
Therefore, the Supreme Court upheld the appeal made by the mother of the applicant against the initial sentence of the High Court of Justice in Madrid which endorsed the decision of the Consulate in Havana on the understanding that the applicant had no right to the visa, as she was not a responsibility of her mother.
In its reasoning, the Supreme Court understands that Madrid High Court of Justice examined a legal regime which is not the one that is covered by the type of visa being requested and did not enter into examining, as it should have done, the correct nature or not of the decision of the Consulate based on the no guarantee of return. Therefore, it annuls the sentence of the Madrid High Court of Justice and determines that the criteria applied in this case by the Consular office has no foundation.
