An Alliance candidate has had to withdraw from May's council election due to an "issue with paperwork" affecting her eligibility, the party has said.
Mimi Unamoyo, who was standing in the Balmoral area of South Belfast, had aimed to become the first refugee elected as a councillor in Northern Ireland.
The Alliance Party said Ms Unamoyo being unable to run for election was "another example of the barriers facing members of migrant communities".
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Ms Unamoyo fled for her life from the Democratic Republic of Congo and sought protection in the UK in 2009.
Her election posters had already been placed on lampposts and for weeks party activists had been distributing leaflets as part of her campaign.
She has been replaced by Queen's University academic Tara Brooks to run alongside sitting councilllor Micky Murray, who was co-opted last year after Kate Nicholl was elected to Stormont.
In a statement an Alliance spokeswoman said: "Unfortunately, due to an issue with paperwork relating to her eligibility to stand, Mimi Unamoyo will be unable to be a candidate in the local government election for Alliance on this occasion.
"This is deeply disappointing, both for Mimi and the party. It is another example of the barriers facing members of migrant communities which we need to address in order to ensure our society is more inclusive and our politics is more representative of our increasingly diverse local community.
"Mimi is an exceptional political activist and remains actively involved with our campaign, helping her Balmoral colleagues, Micky Murray and Tara Brooks, as we seek to win two seats there."
Earlier Ms Unamoyo declined to comment when contacted.
"I can't say anything to journalists. I have to get permission from the party. I have nothing to say," she responded.
The last-minute change emerged as the party gathered candidates at Botanic Gardens on Sunday for a photocall.
It is the latest eleventh-hour candidate switch for the party.
Last week it emerged Alliance candidate Kate Livingston had withdrawn from the election and left her job as policy and communications manager for Ms Nicholl, around four months after starting the role.
Ms Livingston had been one of three candidates for the party in the Holywood and Clandeboye area of Ards and North Down Borough Council.
Both Alliance and Ms Livingston did not respond when asked if there had been a dispute.
In a statement Ms Livingston said she was "in the process of moving to London" and remains a party member, but did not reply to further questions.
The Alliance Party criticised Belfast Live for asking questions, describing it as "harassment".
Alliance is the not only party which has had difficulties with candidate selections for the local government poll on May 18.
High-profile North Belfast councillor Paul McCusker last month quit the SDLP and plans to stand as an independent.
And Dr Madge O’Boyle, an SDLP candidate in Newry, pulled out at the eleventh hour after a dispute over the party fielding Doire Finn as a third candidate in the area, the Belfast Telegraph reported.
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