When a third-country national who is a family member of an EU citizen does not return at the same time as the European citizen to the country of origin of the latter, a residence permit may not be summarily refused on the sole grounds of this time difference, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled in a judgment returned on Wednesday 27 June (case C-230/17).
Erdem Deha Altiner is a Turkish minor who lives in the custody of his Turkish mother following his parents' divorce. His Turkish father subsequently married Isabel Hann Ravn, a Danish citizen. The couple lived in Sweden, where Altiner's son visited for a month in 2013 and for two months in 2014. At the end of October 2014, Ravn and her husband returned to Denmark, where they have been living since.
In June 2015, the Turkish child visited them in Denmark on a visa valid in the Schengen zone until the end of September 2015. In mid-July 2015, with the written consent of his mother, he applied for an EU residence permit. He challenged the subsequent rejection of this application, which the Danish authorities explained on the grounds that Altiner did not enter Denmark at the same time as Ravn.
In its judgement, the Court finds in favour of a young Turkish citizen.
The European Court reiterates that the directive (2004/38) on the freedom of residence and movement of EU citizens provides for a derivative right of residence for a third-country national who is a family member of an EU citizen, to allow the family life developed, in Sweden in this case, to continue, in Denmark in this case.
Before granting the residence permit, the Danish authorities may verify that such a family life was not interrupted before the third-country national entered Denmark. They may take into consideration, as a simple indicator, the fact that Altiner entered their territory some time after Ravn.
However, the fact simple that a family life, developed or consolidated in Sweden in this case, is continuing cannot be ruled out, despite the time difference between Ravn's return to Denmark and Altiner's arrival. Indeed, this time difference can be explained by reasons to do with the personal situation, profession or education of the non-EU national.
Hence, an application for a residence permit that is not made in the natural continuation of the return of the EU citizen to his or her country of origin is not, on its own, enough to justify the rejection of this application. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)