The case concerned a Syrian young girl, who came to Switzerland with her family in 2014 and their asylum application was rejected at the time. However, she was granted provisional admission. In 2021, she submitted a request for a residence permit which was rejected by the Service of population and migrants of the Fribourg canton, decision confirmed by the administrative cantonal tribunal.

The applicant submitted an onward appeal before the Federal Tribunal which upheld the appeal and ordered the cantonal service to issue the requested residence permit, on grounds of the right to private life as enshrined in Article 8 of the ECHR.

The tribunal made a comprehensive analysis of the ECtHR case on the application of Article 8 of the ECHR to situation involving the rights of the foreigners to reside in a Member State and the consequences of refusal of such a right.

The tribunal reiterated the findings of its case law on the fact that the status of provisional admission may interfere with the right to private life. The tribunal reiterated that the federal law on foreigners and integration provides that the requests for authorisation to reside which are submitted by foreigners with provisional admission status and who reside in Switzerland for more than 5 years must be examined in a more detailed manner on basis of level of integration, family situation and the possibility to return to the country of origin.

The tribunal found in the present case that the status of provisional admission of the applicant has significant disadvantages in view of the length of her stay in Switzerland and her age. On the age, the tribunal noted that the applicant is 15 years old and due to her status, she is in a more disadvantageous situation than other younger persons with status of provisional admission.

The tribunal underlined that the more the applicant approaches the age of majority, the higher is her interest to affirm her right to presence in Switzerland. Precisely, the constraints linked to international mobility must be taken into consideration, because the applicant has reached an age when she can be in the need of travelling abroad for school purposes or studies. The tribunal also took into account that the applicant is approaching the moment of completing her compulsory studies and will be confronted with the question of continuing her studies and her status of provisional admission can be an impediment to finding a place for continuation of her studies. The applicant has proved to have made all the efforts for her integration, her school marks and knowledge of French language are excellent, in view of the circumstances. From the point of view of the public interest, the tribunal noted that a return to Syria can not be envisaged in the predictable future.