Article 4 · Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2023/2424

Contents

Article 4Content and format of questions and predetermined set of questions and answers related to decisions taken against the applicant to leave a territory or return to be declared in the application form#

1.Without prejudice to Article 24(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240, the applicant shall be presented with the following questions:

(a)‘Over the past 10 years, have you been subject to one or more return decisions issued by an EU Member State or any third country?’ and

(b)‘Over the past 10 years, have you been subject to one or more decisions requiring you to leave the territory of an EU Member State or of a third country listed below?’

The applicant shall be requested to answer the questions referred to in points (a) and (b) by selecting an answer from a predetermined list comprised of the fields ‘yes’ and ‘no’.For the purpose of point (a), the applicant shall be informed that the word ‘return decision’ shall be understood in accordance with Article 3(4) of Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament^note.For the purpose of point (b), the applicant shall be informed that the word ‘decision requiring to leave the territory’ shall be understood to mean any administrative or judicial decision or act, different from a return decision, requiring the applicant to leave the territory of an EU Member State or of any third country.

2.Where a positive reply is provided for question (a) in paragraph 1, the applicant shall be presented with:

(a)the following instruction: ‘Please specify the country, the date of the decision and answer additional questions.’;

(b)a predetermined list of countries comprised of: the Member States; the third countries listed in Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 of the European Parliament and of the Council^note; and the list of countries of the ISO 3166-1 standard (or newer version), including countries that ceased to exist during the previous 10 years from the moment of application; and

(c)a fixed format field for the completion of the dates (day – if available/month as word/year), where it shall not be possible to select a start date of a period earlier than 10 years from the date of the application.

3.Where a positive reply is provided for question (b) in paragraph 1, the applicant shall be presented with:

(a)the following instruction: ‘Please specify the country, the date of the decision and answer additional questions.’;

(b)a predetermined list of countries comprised of the Member States and the third countries listed in Annex II to Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001^note; and

(c)a fixed format field for the completion of the dates (day– if available/month as word/year), where it shall not be possible to select a start date of a period earlier than 10 years from the date of the application.

4.Where a positive reply is provided for one or both of the questions in paragraph 1, the applicant shall also be presented with the following additional question for each positive answer: ‘Did you remain on the said territory or country after the decision was issued?’The applicant shall be requested to answer the question referred to in this paragraph by selecting an answer from a predetermined list comprised of the fields ‘yes’ and ‘no’.