Swiss court lets naturalised father bring daughter from Gambia

Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court has ruled that a naturalised Swiss man can bring his daughter from Gambia to live with him, SRF reported.

The man, who was born in Gambia, married a Swiss woman and later became a Swiss citizen. He had a relationship with a woman in Gambia, who gave birth to their son after his naturalisation. At the son’s birth, the man learned he also had an older daughter.

Three years after his son was born, the man formally acknowledged paternity of both children, first in Gambia and then in Switzerland. The son is Swiss, but his sister is not.

The children’s mother later said she could no longer care for them because of a new relationship. Their elderly grandparents took over, before the siblings moved to Switzerland to live with their father. He applied for family reunification for his daughter, who was then 10. A court in Gambia had granted him custody of both children.

Zurich authorities rejected the application, saying the father had to apply within five years of learning he was the girl’s father. They also found no important family reasons to allow a late application.

The Federal Supreme Court’s majority ruled that the five-year period begins when paternity is formally acknowledged abroad, not when the father learns of it. The application was therefore made on time. The court also said that, even if the deadline had passed, important family reasons justified allowing the daughter to join her father.

A minority of judges argued that authorities should examine more closely whether the father had really learned of his paternity so late. They said the deadline should begin once paternity could have been acknowledged in practice and under the law.

The majority upheld the family’s appeal, allowing the daughter to live in Switzerland with her father and brother. The family’s lawyer, Pascal Ronc, said the ruling ended years of uncertainty and recognised that living with her father was in the girl’s best interests.