Applicants, both originally from Kazakhstan, appealed the rejection of their statelessness status. They had a document from the Kazakhstan embassy indicating they were no longer nationals, but OFPRA considered they needed to attempt to re-acquire the Kazakh nationality before benefiting from the statelessness status in France, and that the applicants' previous unsuccessful attempts to seek asylum are not an obstacle in attempting to reacquire their former nationality. The Court sided with OFPRA and confirmed the rejection of the statelessness status.
The applicants, originally from Kazakhstan, entered France in 2005 and applied for asylum, but their application was rejected in 2006. They subsequently applied for the recognition of statelessness status in 2009, which was rejected in 2010. The applicants challenged the legality of the decision rejecting their statelessness status.
The applicants claimed that they are stateless. They submitted a document from the Kazakhstan embassy from 2006 stating that they are no longer Kazakh nationals. They argued that they cannot attempt to reacquire the nationality of Kazakhstan due to their previous asylum application in France.
OFPRA argued that they should not benefit from the statelessness status as they have not attempted to reacquire the nationality of Kazakhstan. Their previous attempt to obtain an asylum status is irrelevant for their ability to contact the Kazakh embassy, as they asylum application was rejected.
The Court reasoned that "assuming [the document from Kazakh embassy stating the applicants are no longer nationals] can be regarded as establishing that the applicants had been deprived of Kazakh nationality, Article 41 of the Law on Kazakh nationality allows an appeal against decisions about the loss of Kazakh nationality, and Article 18 of the same law allows former nationals to reacquire their nationality. The applicants do not explain why they have not lodged an appeal against a possible decision to forfeit Kazakh nationality or why they have not requested to reacquire that nationality. The fact that they applied for refugee status following their entry into France in 2005 does not prevent them from initiating procedures with their embassy to reacquire Kazakh nationality, because they were not granted refugee status. The applicants claim that they should enjoy the benefits of a statelessness status is unfounded".
The application was dismissed, and the OFPRA decision to reject the statelessness status stands.