Facts
The complainant, a Swiss citizen, had left his foreign daughter with her mother after emigrating from Turkey. After acquiring Swiss citizenship, he applied for a residence permit for his daughter. The aliens' police of the canton of Zurich rejected the application, as the requirements for family reunification were not met. The government council and the administrative court of the canton of Zurich confirmed this decision.
The complainant's daughter entered Switzerland with a visitor's visa and lived with her father. The father reapplied for a residence permit for his daughter, which was rejected. The administrative court of the canton of Zurich dismissed the administrative appeal lodged against this decision, as there was no primary relationship between the daughter and her father.
Considerations
The Federal Court had to decide whether the complainant's daughter was entitled to family reunification. It found that the daughter, as a minor child of a Swiss citizen, was basically entitled to reunification, but only if she maintained a primary relationship with her father.
The court examined whether the daughter maintained a primary relationship with her father and came to the conclusion that this was not the case. The daughter had grown up with her mother in Turkey and had only sporadic contact with her father. The court found that the daughter could not claim any significant change in her care circumstances that would justify reunification with her father.
The court also discussed the question of whether the family reunification regulation in the Free…