Case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the conditions of admission of third-country nationals for study purposes
This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 12 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.
The request was made in the course of proceedings brought by Mr Ben Alaya against the Bundesrepublik Deutschland, concerning its refusal to grant him a visa for study purposes.
On the basis of the Council Directive 2004/114/EC and of the German legislation, the Court has ruled as follows:
- The admission of a third-country national to the territory of a Member State under Directive 2004/114 is to be subject to the verification of documentary evidence showing that the person in question meets the general conditions.
- In particular, Member States may verify whether there are grounds relating to the existence of a threat to public policy, public security or public health, which may justify refusal to admit a third-country national.
- HOWEVER, the Member State concerned is obliged to admit to its territory a third-country national who wishes to stay more than three months in that territory for study purposes, where that person meets the conditions for admission (listed in Articles 6 and 7 of the directive).
Read the full case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.