The decision of the Administration rejecting the relevant request for renewal of the residence permit for "residence of students for the purpose of seeking employment or entrepreneurship" was unlawful, on the grounds that:
- (a) the one (1) year period, from the expiry of the residence permit granted under article 33 of Law 4251/2014, during which the applicant was to seek employment or set up a business, had in fact elapsed through the extension of permits due to the covid pandemic, without her having managed, during that period, to find employment, although she submitted evidence of two (2) interviews she had in November 2021, which did not, however, result in a hiring,
- (b) she had not submitted her higher education degree even after the two (2) month deadline provided for in article 41 paragraph 6 of Law 4251/2014, and
- (c) she submitted an employee insurance statement with code 115 (heavy/arduous occupations, former IKA-ETAM), a code that does not correspond to the level of education the person concerned had completed.
On the first ground of the contested decision, the Court accepted the applicant's argument that applicants for a residence permit for the purpose of seeking employment must submit supporting documents from which the genuine likelihood of their being hired for a position requiring, as a minimum qualification, a higher education degree must appear, at least three (3) months after the issuance of the residence permit and, in any event, by its expiry, and not at the time of filing their application for the permit in question.
As to the second ground of the contested decision, the Court held that the failure to submit the higher education degree, replaced instead by a certificate of academic transcript showing successful completion of studies, was not due to any fault of the applicant, but to the well-known fact that it was impossible to hold a graduation ceremony because of the effects and measures of the coronavirus pandemic.
As to the third ground, the Court reiterated that, as above, the genuine likelihood of being hired for a position requiring, as a minimum qualification, a higher education degree must appear at least three (3) months after the issuance of the residence permit, whereas the insurance days in question had taken place under her previous residence permit.
Operative part
ON THESE GROUNDS. The Court upholds the application. It annuls decision No. […] of the Coordinator of the Attica Decentralized Administration. It remands the case to the Administration for a new, lawfully reasoned decision, in accordance with the specific terms set out in the reasoning of this decision. It orders the refund of the fee paid by the applicant. It orders the respondent to pay the applicant's court costs, in the amount of three hundred and twenty (320.00) euros.
Excerpt from the decision
An excerpt of the decision follows:
"5. Because, from the above provisions and the explanatory memorandum of Law 4666/2020, it follows that, upon completion of their studies, students who were granted the residence permit provided for in article 33 of Law 4251/2014 may remain in Greece, under the special residence permit established in paragraph 3 of article 41, for a period of one (1) year, in order to seek employment or set up a business. For the application of this provision, students must file the relevant application at least thirty (30) days before the expiry of their student permit and must hold a higher education degree. Where all other requirements of the law are met, but the evidence of the acquisition of the above degree is not available before the expiry of the permit issued under article 33, the Greek Authorities allow the third-country national to remain in Greece, on condition that such evidence is submitted within two (2) months, failure to meet which condition entails revocation of the residence permit granted. If it is not submitted, the relevant act is revoked. In addition, applicants for a residence permit for the purpose of seeking employment must submit the documents listed, by way of example, in the above Ministerial Decision, or any other suitable evidence, in their judgment, from which the genuine likelihood of their being hired for a position requiring, as a minimum qualification, a higher education degree must appear, at least three (3) months after the issuance of the residence permit and, in any event, by its expiry. Therefore, under the express wording of the law, the issuance of this permit does not require, other than the submission of evidence of the acquisition of the degree — subject to its being immediately available to the applicant — nor the simultaneous submission, together with the application, of evidence from which the genuine likelihood of being hired for a position requiring, as a minimum qualification, a higher education degree must appear, nor, still less, proof that the applicant has actually been hired for such a position. On the contrary, provided that the applicant continues to meet the requirements set out in items (a), (c) and (e) of paragraph 2 of article 32 and in item (b) of paragraph 1 of article 33, and provided that the latter files an application for the permit in question at least thirty (30) days before the expiry of the permit issued under article 33 and submits, at the same time, or within two (2) months of filing the application, evidence of the acquisition of the higher education degree, then, subject to paragraph 5 of article 41 of Law 4251/2014, the issuance of the residence permit under paragraph 3 of the same article and law is mandatory for the Administration."
"9. Because the above ground of annulment, concerning the unlawfulness of the reasoning, is well founded. This is because, firstly, under the clear meaning of article 41 of Law 4251/2014, applicants for a residence permit for the purpose of seeking employment must submit supporting documents from which the genuine likelihood of their being hired for a position requiring, as a minimum qualification, a higher education degree must appear, at least three (3) months after the issuance of the residence permit and, in any event, by its expiry, and not at the time of filing their application for the permit in question. Furthermore, the extraordinary circumstances created by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic led to the issuance of numerous ministerial decisions, under which restrictions were imposed, among other things, on the operation of both private businesses and public services, as well as on the free movement of residents within Greek territory. In view of the foregoing, the Court finds that the Administration, in considering that the applicant was required to meet the conditions of the permit applied for retroactively, from the date of expiry of the previous permits she had already obtained, the validity of which had been successively extended because of the pandemic, rejected the application in question with unlawful reasoning. In addition, the applicant's failure to submit a copy of her postgraduate diploma within the prescribed deadline was due to a cause of force majeure, which she validly invokes, specifically the impossibility of holding a graduation ceremony at the University of Macedonia, because of the well-known restrictive measures taken to address the pandemic."
ON THESE GROUNDS. The Court upholds the application. It annuls decision No. […] of the Coordinator of the Attica Decentralized Administration. It remands the case to the Administration for a new, lawfully reasoned decision, in accordance with the specific terms set out in the reasoning of this decision. It orders the refund of the fee paid by the applicant. It orders the respondent to pay the applicant's court costs, in the amount of three hundred and twenty (320.00) euros.