Facts
X., originating from Palestine, entered Switzerland in 1996 and applied for asylum, which was rejected. He was convicted in 1998 and 2000 for drug-related offences and served the majority of his sentences. In 2007, he married Y., a Spanish national residing in Switzerland. The Migration Office of the Canton of Zurich rejected X.'s application for a residence permit EC/EFTA to stay with his spouse. The appellants argued that X. had a right to family reunification based on the AFMP.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that for family reunification under the AFMP, it is no longer required that the third-country national must have been lawfully residing in Switzerland or another contracting state. To ensure a parallel legal situation between the EU and Switzerland, the Federal Supreme Court aligns its case law with the judgment of the ECJ in the Metock case. The Federal Supreme Court further examines whether the conditions for restricting…