The Supreme Court of Namibia has ruled in favour of a same-sex couple, urging the government to revisit a same-sex couple’s appeal for residence rights.

On Monday, Namibia Supreme Court Chief Justice Peter Shivute urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to look at an application for resident status from Mexican national Guillermo Delgado.

Mr Delgado, who is in a same-sex union with Namibian national Phillip Luhl, argued that he is domiciled in Namibia and did not need a visa when entering the country.

LGBT activist Ndilokelwa Nthetwa told the Voice of America that the court’s ruling is a win for the couple’s case.

“It is still quite a bit murky and ambiguous especially for the LGBTQ+ community because this specific verdict at the Supreme Court would have been seen as a historic legal precedent to recognize the domicile status of a foreign national in a same-sex union, but now since this isn’t the cast, it’s now just relied on a technical approach where it has to be referred back to the ministry,” Mr Nthetwa.

Both men have stirred controversy around Namibia’s travel documentation and their status as a married couple when the country does not recognize same-sex marriage. Homosexuality is illegal in Namibia under a rarely-enforced 1927 sodomy law dating to its period of South African rule.

Mr Delgado had applied for residency in Namibia, where he has lived for more than a decade. He married Namibian national Phillip Luehl eight years ago in South Africa.

Namibian immigration officials ruled that their South African marriage did not qualify Mr Delgado for residency in Namibia.