The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has found that unaccompanied minor refugees who arrive in the European Union before the age of 18 retain their right to family reunification even when they reach the age of majority before being granted asylum.
The case involved an unaccompanied minor who arrived in the Netherlands when she was under the age of 18. She was granted asylum having already attained the age majority, and subsequently made an application for her parents and brother to join her in the Netherlands. The application was refused as she was over the age of 18 and family reunification therefore no longer applied.
The District Court in the Netherlands therefore referred a question to the CJEU: does a third country national minor who enters into the territory of a State and reaches the age of majority during the asylum process, retain the status of minor for the purpose of family reunification under Directive 2003/86?
The Court rejected the argument of the State that the decisive date was when the application for family reunification was submitted, as opposed to the date the minor entered the State. The Court was of the view that if the Directive were to rely on how quickly an application for international protection was processed – which can vary from State to State – this would be at odds with the aim of the Directive, but also the principles of equal treatment and legal certainty. The Court acknowledged, however, that any such application would have to be made within a reasonable time, which it took indicatively to be within three months of the minor being given refugee status.
Click here for A, S v Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie.