Facts
The Pakistani national H. entered Switzerland in 1991 and filed an asylum application. After the rejection of the asylum application, he was deported from Switzerland in 1992. In 1992, he re-entered Switzerland and married a Swiss national. In 1995, H. filed an application for entry permits for two of his children from his first marriage, I. and A. The application was rejected by the Aliens Police in 1996. H. filed an appeal, which was dismissed by the Cantonal Government of Zurich in 1997. H. then filed an administrative court appeal, which was dismissed by the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich in 1998.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the jurisprudence that a right to family reunification for children of separated foreign parents requires that the primary family relationship exists with the parent living in Switzerland. This jurisprudence was found to be compatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Federal Supreme Court stated that while Art. 17 para. 2 ANAG and Art. 8 ECHR guarantee the protection of family relationships, they do not grant an unconditional right to family reunification of children. Rather, such a right requires that the child has a primary family relationship with the parent living in Switzerland and that the family reunification is necessary.
In the present case, H. had voluntarily left his…