The case concerned a request for a residence permit for family members of a Congolese national who was granted refugee status. The determining authority rejected the request and the Administrative Court of Athens stated that an individual assessment should be made in order to determine whether the failure to produce relevant documents was justified. The court noted that an interview should be conducted prior to the rejection of the family reunification application and an investigation should be carried out to verify the existence of the family relationship of the refugee applicant with the members of his family who would join.

The Administrative Court analysed the conditions laid down in Directive 2003/86/EC on family reunification and its transposition into national legislation to conclude that the above-mentioned directive precludes any legislation that allow the rejection of an application for family reunification on the basis of predetermined conditions without the possibility for an individual assessment based on the specific circumstances of the applicants. It was further mentioned that based on the proportionality principle, the non-presentation by the refugee, who requested the arrival of his family members in Greece, of a family status certificate translated into Greek and certified by Greek authorities, of an exact copy of their travel documents and other supporting documents, must not result in a rejection of the application without a proper and prior individualised assessment of specific circumstances of each case. In case there are serious justifications not to present the documents, the administrative authority has to make additional efforts to obtain the identity documents of the refugee’s family members.

The Administrative Court ruled that the decision to reject the refugee’s application cannot be based solely on the absence of supporting documents and that although the principles of proportionality and good administration, as enshrined in the Family Reunification Directive, call for the applicant to submit relevant documents, in case of a particular situation of the applicant who cannot access official documents due to fear of persecution, the administration must carry out the necessary investigation to confirm the existence of the family relationship of the refugee applicant, even with the assistance of Greek consular authorities, to interview the refugee and his family members.