Administrative Court of Berlin, October 10, 2015, Case No.: VG 19 K 355.13 V
Denial of a student visa for an Iranian student due to public safety concerns.
An admission letter from a German university or university of applied sciences
Proof of sufficient financial means to cover living expenses during the course of study
Adequate knowledge of the German language
Health insurance coverage
The applicant must not pose a threat to public safety or health
A valid passport
In the case before the Administrative Court, the court had to decide on the legality of denying a visa to an Iranian student.
Facts of the Case:
The plaintiff was an academic from Iran
The plaintiff was born in 1985 and had obtained her degree from a university in Tehran specializing in technology, engineering, and physics. She applied for a visa at the German Embassy in Tehran to pursue a doctoral program at a German technical university. Her research project in IT security was to be supported by a doctoral scholarship from the German university.
The German Embassy in Tehran rejected the application due to concerns over potential misuse of research knowledge
After reviewing the case, the German Embassy in Tehran denied the plaintiff’s application. The rejection was based on the concern that the plaintiff might misuse the knowledge she would gain in a sensitive research area in Germany, possibly for military, intelligence, or repressive purposes. The Iranian university where she studied was considered close to the regime.
The plaintiff initially filed an objection to the decision, which was unsuccessful. She then filed a lawsuit at the Administrative Court of Berlin.
Judgment of the Administrative Court of Berlin
The Administrative Court referred the security issues to the European Court of Justice.
The Administrative Court of Berlin, responsible for the case, questioned whether the Federal Republic of Germany could consider the plaintiff a threat to public safety under the European Students Directive.
It raised the possibility that the national authorities of EU Member States might have a discretionary power that would limit judicial review of their threat assessment. Consequently, the Administrative Court of Berlin suspended the proceedings and referred three questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling under Article 267(2) TFEU:
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- a) Is Article 6(1)(d) of Council Directive 2004/114/EC of 13 December 2004 on the conditions of admission of third-country nationals for the purposes of studies, pupil exchange, unremunerated training, or voluntary service to be interpreted as meaning that the competent authorities of the Member States have a discretionary power when assessing whether a third-country national applying for admission for the purposes listed in Articles 7 to 11 of the Directive constitutes a threat to public order, security, or health, such that the assessment is subject to limited judicial review?
- b) If the answer to Question 1a is affirmative, what legal constraints are applicable to the competent authorities of the Member States in assessing whether a third-country national applying for admission for the purposes listed in Articles 7 to 11 of Council Directive 2004/114/EC of 13 December 2004 constitutes a threat to public order, security, or health, particularly with regard to the facts and their evaluation?
- Regardless of the answers to Questions 1a and 1b: Is Article 6(1)(d) of Council Directive 2004/114/EC of 13 December 2004 to be interpreted as permitting Member States to refuse admission to their territory, in a case like the present one, where a third-country national from Iran who obtained her degree in Iran from the Sharif University of Technology (Tehran), specializing in technology, engineering, and physics, seeks to enter the country to pursue a doctoral program in IT security research on the project „Trustworthy Embedded and Mobile Systems,“ particularly for the development of effective protection mechanisms for smartphones, on the grounds that it cannot be ruled out that the skills acquired in connection with the research project could be misused in Iran, for example, to obtain confidential information in Western countries, for internal repression, or generally in connection with human rights violations?
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Source: Administrative Court of Berlin
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