Official Journal of the European Union

C 286/7

(Joined Cases C-829/21 and C-129/22, (1) Stadt Frankfurt am Main (Renewal of a residence permit in the second Member State) and Others)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Immigration policy - Status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents - Directive 2003/109/EC - Second subparagraph of Article 9(4), Article 14(1), second subparagraph of Article 15(4), Article 19(2) and Article 22 - Right of third-country nationals to long-term resident status in a Member State - Grant by the first Member State of a ‘long-term resident’s EU residence permit’ of unlimited duration - Third-country national absent from the territory of the first Member State for a period of more than six years - Consequent loss of entitlement to long-term resident status - Application for renewal of a residence permit issued by the second Member State pursuant to the provisions of Chapter III of Directive 2003/109/EC - Application rejected by the second Member State because of the loss of that entitlement - Conditions)

(2023/C 286/07)

Language of the case: German

Referring courts

Hessischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof, Verwaltungsgericht Darmstadt

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: TE, RU, represented for legal purposes by TE (C-829/21), EF (C-129/22)

Defendants Stadt Frankfurt am Main (C-829/21), Stadt Offenbach am Main (C-129/22)

Operative part of the judgment

Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents, as amended by Directive 2011/51/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2011, and in particular Article 22(1)(b) thereof,

1.must be interpreted as meaning that a Member State can refuse to renew a residence permit which it granted to a third-country national pursuant to the provisions of Chapter III of that directive, as amended, on the ground, referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 9(4) of that directive, as amended, that, having been absent for a period of more than six years from the territory of the Member State that granted him or her long-term resident status, and the latter Member State not having made use of the option provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 9(4) of that directive, as amended, that third-country national is no longer entitled to maintain that status in the latter Member State, provided that the six-year period ended at the latest on the date on which the application for renewal of that permit was lodged and the third-country national had previously been invited to produce proof of his or her presence (if any) in that territory during that period.

The second subparagraph of Article 9(4) and Article 22(1)(b) of Directive 2003/109, as amended by Directive 2011/51,

2.must be interpreted as meaning that those provisions are duly transposed into national law by a second Member State which implements them by means of two separate provisions where the first provision sets out the ground leading to loss of the right to long-term resident status referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 9(4) of that directive, as amended, and the second provides, without referring specifically to one of the grounds for loss of that right referred to in Article 9 of the directive, as amended, that a residence permit under the provisions of Chapter III of that directive, as amended, must be revoked if the third-country national concerned is no longer entitled to maintain his or her long-term resident status in the Member State that issued it.

The second subparagraph of Article 15(4) of Directive 2003/109, as amended by Directive 2011/51,

3.must be interpreted as meaning that the Member State in which the third-country national has applied for the grant of a residence permit pursuant to the provisions of Chapter III of that directive, as amended, or for the renewal of such a permit cannot reject that application on the ground that the third-country national did not include with the application documentary evidence establishing that he or she has appropriate accommodation, if that Member State has not implemented that provision.

Language of the case: German

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(1) OJ C 138, 28.3.2022.

(2) OJ C 237, 20.6.2022.