26-year-old arrested in Lower Austria during his own wedding

The background was that the Turkish citizen had received a negative asylum decision a few days earlier, as several media reported on Monday. The groom who was unable to attend is now in custody in Vienna. His fiancée, a 40-year-old German living in the federal capital, reacted with shock to the incident.

Arrest at Vösendorf Castle

The scene of the arrest was Vösendorf Castle on Saturday morning. During the wedding and before the vows were said, the registrar is said to have suddenly left the room. “She said she had to get something. She came back with ten or twelve men,” the bride told the “Kurier”. Officers arrested the 26-year-old.

As was rumored, the man has been living in Austria since 2022 and has not yet completed military service in his home country. The lawyer Gregor Staple, who specializes in asylum and immigration law, believes the police operation is not proportionate and, according to media reports, also wants to campaign for the 26-year-old to remain in Austria.

What the BFA says about the case

When asked on Monday, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) did not provide any details about the procedure – for data protection reasons, as it was emphasized. “In principle, it can be stated that with a legally binding return decision, which was confirmed by the Federal Administrative Court in the event of a complaint, the foreigner will be legally obliged to leave the country,” it said. “The information that there is no right of residence and that the country must therefore be left is contained in every negative official and court decision and is again expressly discussed in the mandatory return advice.”

In general, “voluntary and independent departure” is given priority over “forced removal from the country”. However, it must be clear to “illegally resident persons” that “their unsafe residence in Austria and that simply getting married does not change their uncertain residence status with all its consequences.”

“No law against arrest at the registry office”

The BFA has the possibility to “issue an arrest order against a stranger, among other things if a decision to leave the country has become legally binding but the stranger does not comply with it on his own or evades the proceedings”. If the order cannot be carried out, “because, for example, the stranger cannot be found at the home address,” it will be stored in the internal system. The arrest order could then “be carried out in the event of a later arrest”.

“Before each deportation, the BFA carefully examines all relevant aspects of private and family life in each individual case as part of an official refoulement check,” it was further stated in a written statement. This “ensures that any changes in private and family life are taken into account”. It was also emphasized that “there is no legal provision that makes an arrest at the registry office inadmissible.”

info By clicking on the icon you can add the keyword to your topics.

info
By clicking on the icon you open your “my topics” page. They have of 15 keywords saved and would have to remove keywords.

info By clicking on the icon you can remove the keyword from your topics.

Add the topic to your topics.