Victory! Court annulled a three-year Schengen entry ban

The court annulled a three-year Schengen entry ban that the Police and Border Guard Board had imposed on a foreign national. In case no. 3-23-905, Tartu Court of Appeal found that there was no legal basis for imposing the ban.

NAMM attorney-at-law Nele Tammemäe represented a Belarusian citizen who had a valid Polish residence permit. The man worked at a construction site in Estonia without registering short-term employment, as a result of which the Police and Border Guard Board terminated his period of stay and imposed a three-year Schengen entry ban.

The court explained that because the person held a residence permit issued by another European Union country and voluntarily left Estonia for Poland, he could not be made subject to an entry ban covering the entire Schengen area. Such a ban would be contrary to both Estonian law and the Schengen Convention. The court annulled the ban and ordered the state to pay the client €3,745 in procedural costs.

The judgment is important for foreign nationals who hold a residence permit in another EU country: a violation committed in Estonia does not automatically mean losing access to the entire Schengen area. The judgment is available here.