Facts
The Turkish citizen [B.] entered Switzerland in 1987 and married a Swiss citizen in 1992, after his asylum application had been rejected. In 1997, he was granted a settlement permit, but after his divorce and marriage to a Turkish citizen, with whom he had a child, the settlement permit was revoked. [B.] applied to the Federal Court to repeal the revocation and extend the settlement permit.
The Basel authorities had made the revocation on the grounds that the marriage to the Swiss citizen was a foreign law marriage and [B.] had concealed the existence of his child.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the conditions for revoking the settlement permit under Art. 9 para. 4 lit. a RSFNA were met. It found that the appellant had made knowingly false statements and concealed essential facts in order to obtain the settlement permit.
The court concluded that the marriage to the Swiss citizen was a sham marriage that only existed in form to enable the appellant to obtain the settlement permit. It also found that the appellant had concealed the existence of his child, although this was a relevant fact for the decision.
The Federal Court…