Request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Wien (Austria) lodged on 26 October 2020 – CR, GF, TY

(Case C-560/20)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Verwaltungsgericht Wien

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellants: CR, GF, TY

Respondent authority: Landeshauptmann von Wien (head of government of the province of Vienna)

Questions referred

Can the third-country national parents of a refugee who has applied for asylum as an unaccompanied minor and has been granted asylum as a minor continue to rely on Article 2(f) in conjunction with Article 10(3)(a) of Council Directive 2003/86/EC ¹ if the refugee reached the age of majority after being granted asylum but during the procedure for granting a residence permit to his parents?

If Question I is to be answered in the affirmative: In such a case, is it necessary that the parents of the third-country national comply with the period for submitting an application for family reunification referred to in the judgment of the Court of Justice of 12 April 2018, C-550/16, A and S, ² paragraph 61, namely ‘in principle, […] within a period of three months of the date on which the “minor” concerned was declared to have refugee status’?

If Question I is to be answered in the affirmative: In such a case, is it necessary that the parents of the third-country national comply with the period for submitting an application for family reunification referred to in the judgment of the Court of Justice of 12 April 2018, C-550/16, A and S, paragraph 61, namely ‘in principle, […] within a period of three months of the date on which the “minor” concerned was declared to have refugee status’?

If Question II is to be answered in the affirmative: What criteria are to be applied when assessing whether such an application for family reunification was submitted ‘in principle’ within a period of three months within the meaning of the statements made in the judgment of the Court of Justice of 12 April 2018, C-550/16, A and S, paragraph 61?

If Question II is to be answered in the affirmative: Can the refugee’s parents continue to rely on their right to family reunification under Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86 if three months and one day have elapsed between the date on which the minor was declared to have refugee status and the date on which they applied for family reunification?

Can a Member State require the refugee’s parents, in principle, to meet the conditions of Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/86 in a family reunification procedure under Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86?

Is the requirement to meet the conditions referred to in Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/86 in the context of family reunification under Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86 dependent on whether the application for family reunification was submitted within a period of three months after the granting of the refugee status within the meaning of the third subparagraph of Article 12(1) of Directive 2003/86?

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¹ Council Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification (OJ 2003 L 251, p. 12).

² EU:C:2018:248.