WHEN Emma and Jake DeSouza tied the knot, it was not only the beginning of a new life together, but the start of a significant citizenship dispute that continues four years on.
After applying for a residence card for Californian Jake's spousal right to live in Northern IreIand, the couple's application was refused as Emma's request was made as an Irish citizen living in the UK.
The Home Office said that as Emma was born in the north, she must reapply for the visa as a British citizen. She maintains this undermines her Irish citizenship rights under the Good Friday Agreement.
The row has prevented Jake from travelling as he had surrendered his passport for the visa application process.
Last year, a tribunal judge ruled in favour of the DeSouzas, but the Home Office was granted permission to appeal.
What began as a simple visa application has spiralled into a high-profile legal battle that has seen Emma gain the support of numerous politicians and a growing campaign of followers who relate to her right to be recognised as Irish.
Emma says she "never expected to be in this situation or to be running a campaign", which she continue "in the hope of bringing about legislative changes that will protect those coming behind us".
She said "never in a million years" did she believe she would still be involved in such a dispute when she first highlighted her case.
"We first went to the press, the Irish News in fact out of frustration, by this point the British Home Office had essentially kept us hostage by refusing to return Jake's passport for 18 months," she said.
"By this point it was beginning to feel like an infringement on our basic human rights. It was another six months before we got his passport returned upon the passing of his grandmother and through media pressure."
As the DeSouza case began to gain traction, it was during an appearance at Féile an Phobail last August, that Emma believes their 'campaign' really grew.
"During the Q&A afterwards, a number of people shared their own experiences both with the Home Office and with their right to be Irish or British or both," she said.
"I left that event feeling like these issues couldn't wait any longer, these people couldn't wait anymore.
"The personal impact of having your identity questioned by a government department and your rights denied is indescribable.
"I began a letter campaign that day, rounding up politicians, human rights groups, immigration practitioner's and people affected. We all wrote letters to both the Home Secretary and Tánaiste, which I hand delivered a month later.
"We received a response from Simon Coveney, but to date there has been no acknowledgement from the Home Secretary of the very serious and personal issues raised in those letters.
"Following that I invited all the NI parties to engage with myself and human rights organisations as to the implications Brexit may have on the Good Friday Agreement.
"Sinn Féin, SDLP, Alliance, UUP and the Green Party all attended and have been actively seeking commitments from the British government to uphold the Good Friday Agreement in all it's parts.
"From there the campaign has continued to grow as more and more discrepancies in UK domestic law and the government's commitments under the Good Friday Agreement are exposed.
"I can safely say I never expected to be in this situation or to be running a campaign."
Emma has met with MPs in Westminster and travelled to both Strasbourg and Brussels to spread her message as well as receiving widespread social media backing.
"The #WeAreIrishtoo, #AsIrishAs and #IstandwithEmma was incredibly emotive, the solidarity and support that was expressed across social media demonstrates how important and personal identity is," she said.
"Think32 launched the #IstandwithEmma campaign which called on people from all communities across the island to share where they were born with the hashtags as a show of support.
"I've never felt more proud to call this home but what was most heartening was that people from all backgrounds joined in, rights are for everybody, the Good Friday Agreement is for everybody."
She said there was "a lot of excitement and hope" recently when British Prime Minister Theresa May said citizenship cases would be addressed.
"She pledged a review that would bring Home Office policies in line with the letter and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement," she said.
"I was immediately inundated with phone calls from hopeful families. That hope is well and truly gone after a number of disturbing policy changes this week.
"A change in the UK's immigration rules means NI-born Irish nationals will not be considered an EEA (European Economic Area) national in the UK and will instead be considered and treated as British, irrespective of the Good Friday Agreement.
"This to me will create two tiers of Irish citizens within the UK. Those born in the south that can access their EU rights and benefits within the UK and those born in the north that cannot.
"I see no indication that the Home Office will relent in the appeals against us.
"Instead I see a hardening of their position - that the people of Northern Ireland are automatically British and if recent developments are anything to go by we will be considered British and stand to be among the only EU citizens within the UK unable to legally underpin their EU rights.
"I think the direction of travel sets a dangerous precedent."
As the couple await a court date with the Home Office, Emma says "we'll continue our case and indeed the campaign in the hopes of bringing about legislative changes that will protect those coming behind us".
"I think the case could bring about change but only if there is political will on all sides to find a creative solution for the people of Northern Ireland that respects their right to be Irish or British or both."
Sinn Féin's Niall Ó Donnghaile, who has supported the couple, said they had "taken a tremendous stand on behalf of everyone who values the Good Friday Agreement and our rights as citizens".
"Herself and her husband Jake, at great personal cost, remain in a legal battle with British Home Office to have her rights under the Good Friday Agreement upheld and her Irish citizenship ensured," he said.
"I have been privileged to work with Emma and Jake since the very early stages of this case and their tenacity and determination has not surprised me - their stand is a stand for us all."
