| Applicant name | DABO |
| Applicant type | Immigrant |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | Sweden |
| Application no. | 12510/18 |
| Date | 18/01/2024 |
| Judges | Marko Bošnjak, President, Alena Poláčková, Lətif Hüseynov, Péter Paczolay, Gilberto Felici, Erik Wennerström, Raffaele Sabato, |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | No violation |
| Reason | Fair balance struck |
| Type of privacy | Relational privacy |
| Keywords | refugee; family reunion denied |
| Facts of the case | The application concerns a refusal to grant family reunification. The applicant’s first wife and five children applied in November 2016 for residence permits on the basis of family reunification. Their applications were refused because the applicant, at that time, could not fulfil the maintenance requirement. The applicant relied on Article 8 of the Convention |
| Analysis | The Court points out in that insurmountable obstacles to enjoying family life in the country of origin progressively assume greater importance in the fair-balance assessment as time passes. In particular, where the refugee resident in the territory of the host State is and remains unable to meet income requirements, despite doing all that he or she reasonably can to become financially independent, continuing to apply the maintenance requirement without any flexibility could potentially lead to the permanent separation of families. In this case, the applicant was a doctor by profession and had worked as such in Syria. Therefore, he had good prospects of being able to fulfil the maintenance requirement in the future. He had not yet found employment, though, and it cannot be concluded that he had done all that could reasonably be expected of him to earn sufficient income to cover his and his family’s expenses. Also, the Court finds that the legal regime is sufficiently flexible and allows for exceptions to the maintenance requirement in exceptional circumstances. Finally, his wife and children were safe and did not rely on applicant’s support. |
| Other Article violation? | – |
| Damage awarded | – |
| Documents | Judgment |