The case concerned a Syrian family with two minor children, whose asylum applications were rejected as inadmissible by the State Secretary by decision of 18 March 2022, because they were granted international protection in Bulgaria on 2 April 2015. Shortly afterwards, they left Bulgaria and unsuccessfully applied for asylum in Denmark. They then travelled to the Netherlands and applied for asylum here. They have not returned to Bulgaria since.  The applicants appealed against these decisions before the Court of the Hague and stated that according to recent amendments of the Bulgarian legislation (Article 42(5) of the Law on Asylum and Refugees, LAR), already granted international protection could be withdrawn on the grounds that applicants did not renew their residence documents within 30 days of expiry.

By interim ruling of 8 July 2022, the court allowed the State Secretary to sent inquiries to the Bulgarian authorities and on 22 July 2022 the court decided to send questions to the Bulgarian authorities.

By decision of 26 October 2022, the court allowed the appeals lodged by the applicants against the decisions of 18 March 2022, annulled the contested decisions and stated that the State Secretary has to re-examine the applications. The State Secretary appealed against this decision.

The Council of State reiterated its findings in a case ruled on the same day, namely Applicant v State Secretary for Justice and Security (Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid). The Council of State concluded that in Bulgaria, the failure to renew the residence permits in time did not automatically lead to the termination of international protection, but merely to the initiation of a procedure in which all facts and circumstances were taken into account before a decision on withdrawal was taken. According to the Council of State’s considerations, withdrawal proceedings were only initiated if an applicant had not renewed the residence permit for at least three years after expiry.

The Council of State noted that the applicants have refugee status in Bulgaria since 2 April 2015, valid until 17 April 2020. By letter of 5 April 2022, the Bulgarian authorities indicated their willingness to take back the applicants based on their refugee status. Despite the fact that more than three years have passed on 17 April 2023 since the expiry of the validity of the documents. The Council of State concluded that the burden of proof to demonstrate that the refugee protection has ended in their case lies with them, and since they have not demonstrated so, then the State Secretary can rightly assume that the applicants are still enjoying international protection in Bulgaria. As such, the applicants can extend the validity of their residence documents after their return to Bulgaria. In any case, the Council of State considered that even if their status would be withdrawn in Bulgaria, they could litigate the cases in Bulgaria.

The Council of State decided similarly in other cases pronounced on 1st November 2023:

• Netherlands, Council of State [Afdeling Bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State], State Secretary for Justice and Security (Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid) v Applicants, No 202206277/1/V2, ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:3967, 01 November 2023.
• Netherlands, Council of State [Afdeling Bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State], State Secretary for Justice and Security (Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid) v Applicants, 202205772/1/V2, ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:3966, 01 November 2023. 
• Netherlands, Council of State [Afdeling Bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State], Applicants v State Secretary for Justice and Security (Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid), 202203963/1/V2, ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:3965, 01 November 2023.