Family reunification not dependent on age, resources — EU court

VIENNA — An unaccompanied minor refugee’s right to family reunification cannot be dependent on financial resources or curbed by reaching adulthood, the EU Court of Justice confirmed on Tuesday.

The ruling came after a Vienna court asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) to interpret the directive on the right to family reunification in relation to the case of an unaccompanied Syrian minor refugee.

After the minor obtained refugee status in Austria, his parents and seriously ill adult sister — who requires permanent care — sought family reunification by applying for residence permits.

The Austrian authorities rejected several applications for family reunification, stating that the young refugee was no longer a minor when the decision on the case was made.

They also found that the refugee and his parents did not have sufficient resources to provide for them and his sister’s care.

The family challenged the rejection before the Vienna Administrative Court, which subsequently asked the ECJ for clarification.

The ECJ ruled that the right to family reunification “cannot depend on how quickly or slowly the application for international protection is processed”.

It recalled its ruling in 2018 that an unaccompanied minor who reaches adulthood during the asylum procedure retains his or her right to family reunification, in accordance with a 2003 directive.

Furthermore, the right cannot be “subject to the condition that the minor refugee or his or her parents have accommodation, sickness insurance, as well as sufficient resources for them and the sister”, it found.

“It is practically impossible for an unaccompanied minor refugee to meet such conditions... likewise for the parents,” the ECJ ruled.

Due to the specific circumstances of the case, family reunification “must exceptionally extend” to the refugee’s adult sister in need of care. 

Denying her family reunification alongside her parents would essentially deprive the refugee of his right, the court said.