For the purposes of equality of treatment, third-country nationals are to be considered "minors" within the meaning of the European rules if they are under the age of 18 at the time they submit their asylum application in the member state in which they enter the European Union, the Court of Justice of the EU states (case C-550/16).
In order to enforce their rights to family reunification, moreover, these unaccompanied minors must submit their reunification application within a reasonable period of time, specifically a theoretical three months from the day on which they were granted refugee status.
An Eritrean national arrived in the Netherlands as an unaccompanied minor and applied for asylum in the country on 26 February 2014. On 2 June 2014, she turned 18. On 21 October 2014, the Dutch Secretary of State granted her a residence permit for five years, effective from the date on which the asylum application was made. On 27 May 2015, on the other hand, her application for family reunification, which was made on 23 December 2014, was rejected, on the grounds that the Eritrean national was no longer a minor when the application for family reunification was made.
The young Eritrean's parents are challenging the refusal. They argue that it is the date of entry to the member state in question that determines whether a person may be considered an "unaccompanied minor" within the meaning of the directive (2003/86) on family reunification.
The Court, to which the case was referred by the court in The Hague, agreed. It describes as "minors" non-EU nationals and stateless persons aged under the age of the 18 at the time of their entry to the territory of a member state and submission of their visa application asylum application in that state. The same applies if, during the procedure, the asylum seeker reaches the age of majority before obtaining refugee status.
Using the date on which the request for international protection was made helps guarantee uniform and predictable treatment for all applicants in the same situation chronologically, the Court believes.
It goes on to state that if the right to family reunification is dependent on the point in time at which the competent national authority formally adopts a decision recognising refugee status for the person concerned and, hence, the speed with which the application for international protection is processed, this would undermine the usefulness of the right to family reunification. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)