The case concerned an Afghan family who fled to Pakistan after the Taliban took power in 2021. On 15 February 2022, the applicants applied to the Swiss embassy in Pakistan for humanitarian visas, which were refused by decision of 2 March 2022. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) rejected the applicants' objection by a decision on 5 July 2022 and on 8 August 2022 they lodged an appeal against this rejection before the Federal Administrative Court.

In their reasons, the applicants stated that the first applicant was exposed to an activity-related risk because he had worked as a public prosecutor in Afghanistan from 2012-2018 in the field of terrorist offences and in this capacity he had accused and imprisoned numerous members of the Taliban. The applicant stated that already during his time as a public prosecutor, he had been threatened several times by the Taliban due to his activities, and the danger had increased since the takeover of power and the release of many of the perpetrators he had accused. The applicants further stated that in Pakistan they were at risk of refoulement to Afghanistan, as systematic repatriations from Pakistan to Afghanistan were taking place. The SEM admitted in its decision that the first applicant had a certain risk profile due to his activities but stated that there were no indications that the applicants were specifically threatened with immediate deportation to Afghanistan. Although the SEM was aware that Pakistan had tightened border controls and that some people had been returned to Afghanistan without valid visas, it was not aware of any systematic returns from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

The Federal Administrative Court held that a humanitarian visa was to be issued if the applicant was particularly exposed to an immediate, serious and specific risk to life and limb in the country of origin. In case the applicant resided in a third country, it could generally be assumed that there was no longer such a risk.

The Federal Administrative Court referred to country information from the European Agency for Asylum [EUAA], Afghanistan - Targeting of Individuals, Country of Origin Information Report, August 2022 and European Union Agency for Asylum [EASO], Afghanistan Country Focus, Country of Origin Information Report, January 2022, according to which former government, security forces or foreign forces in Afghanistan were exposed to a particularly high risk of human rights violations such as arbitrary arrests, torture and killings. The Federal Administrative Court held that the SEM itself had made similar conclusions in its own reports. Based on the abovementioned, the Federal Administrative Court held that the applicants had made it plausible that due to the activities of the first applicant they were at a particularly high risk of persecution in Afghanistan. The Federal Administrative Court further stated that country of origin information showed that since the beginning of 2023 the Pakistani authorities had increasingly detained and forcibly returned Afghan nationals to Afghanistan, regardless of whether they have a valid visa or not. In view of the abovementioned, the Federal Administrative Court upheld the appeal and ordered the SEM to issue humanitarian visas to the applicants.