The applicant, A, Ethiopian national, requested residence permit on the basis of family reunification with his cohabitation spouse B, who had a permanent residence permit issued on individual reasons. The FIS rejected the request by decision of 2 May 2019 and ordered the repatriation of A, considering that he did not meet the requirements as he did not present a valid travel document. The applicant also had a child and invoked the protection of family life and best interests of the child as a potential derogation from the travel document requirement.

The Finnish Immigration Service stated that there was nothing in the case to suggest that the travel document requirement should be waived. An applicant has the opportunity to obtain a passport in his or her home country at the latest if he or she cannot obtain a passport from Finland, and he or she can re-apply for a residence permit on the basis of family ties from his or her home country. Moreover, by another decision issued on the same day, the Finnish Immigration Service rejected the applicant's application for an alien's passport because the applicant has not presented the reasons under section 134 of the Aliens Act on the basis of which the alien passport could be issued.

The Supreme Administrative Court rejected the appeal, after having examined whether the aspects relating to the protection of family life and the best interests of the child were so weighty that they required a derogation from the requirement for the validity of the travel document.

The court noted that there were no reasons beyond the control of the applicant and that could have prevented him to acquire a travel document from the State of nationality. The court noted that A had spent family life in Finland for several years and that the family included a child who had been granted refugee status for personal reasons, thus the whole family could not be required to return to their home country. However, the applicant’s stay in Finland was based on pending residence permit applications and no special circumstances had been put forward concerning the circumstances of the family which would require the second guardian of the child to be granted a residence permit despite the absence of a travel document.

The court underlined that A may re-apply for a residence permit after obtaining a travel document from his State of nationality. The refusal to issue a residence permit could not be considered unreasonable from the point of view of the protection of family life or the best interests of the child.