The applicant requested international protection in Germany in October 2014 with a false identity. In September 2015, the asylum procedure was terminated after the withdrawal of the asylum application as the applicant’s identity was revealed to the Foreigners' Registration Office on presentation of a Portuguese passport issued in January 2014.

On 4 September 2019, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) ordered by decision the carrying out of an identification of the applicant. The BAMF claimed that Paragraph 16(1) of the AsylG in conjunction with Paragraph 15(2)(7) of the AsylG provided for a legal basis to carry out identification measures for EU citizens after an asylum procedure has been completed and that there is a corresponding obligation to cooperate.

On 27 April 2020, the Administrative Court annulled that decision by judgment as the applicant was not obliged to accept the identification measure, since, as a citizen of the European Union, fingerprints and photographs cannot be stored in the national central register of foreigners in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 603/2013. The court noted that although identification measures apply also after the withdrawal of an application for asylum, according to Paragraph 15(5) of the AsylG, the fact that the applicant is an EU citizen precludes the implementation of the identification measures.

The Federal Administrative Court held that the collection of fingerprints and photograph serves also for the detection of multiple applications and if data are deleted and not stored permanently, data collection is allowed. The applicant appealed the decision, and a judgment was issued in which the Federal Administrative Court allowed the appeal. It confirmed that identification treatment does not apply to EU citizens whose identity has been verified and who, after withdrawal of their asylum application, are entitled to a right to freedom of movement under EU law or whose right to freedom of movement is presumed.