(AGENPARL) – Thu 13 November 2025 PRESS RELEASE No 139/25
Luxembourg, 13 November 2025
Judgment of the Court in Case C-525/23 | [Oti 1]
Authorisation to reside in the European Union for the purpose of
voluntary service: a Member State cannot impose additional
conditions for the purpose of proving the existence of sufficient
resources
In June 2020, OS, a third-country national, applied to renew his residence permit in Hungary. He wished to
carry out voluntary work at the Mahatma Gandhi Emberi Jogi Egyesület (Mahatma Gandhi Association for
Human Rights). He stated, in that regard, that his uncle, a British citizen, would guarantee him the necessary
resources during the period of volunteering. During the administrative procedure, OS described that
financial assistance provided by his uncle sometimes as a loan and sometimes as a gift. The Hungarian
authorities rejected the application on the ground that the uncle could not be regarded as a ‘family member’
under national law.
OS challenged that rejection. The Budapest High Court (Hungary) upheld his action, considering that the
means of subsistence that the applicant for a residence permit must have could come from legally acquired
income or assets, irrespective of whether that income was his own or income made available by a member
of his family.
However, the Hungarian Supreme Court set aside that ruling. In its view, even though the necessary
resources can be provided by a person who is not a family member, it is necessary to establish whether they
constitute income or an asset and to specify the legal basis on which those resources were received and
whether the applicant can have them at his or her disposal in a permanent and unrestricted manner as if
they were his or her own funds.
Having doubts as to whether these checks imposed by the Supreme Court were compatible with EU law, the
Budapest High Court referred the matter to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.
In its judgment, the Court, in the first place, observes that a third-country national concerned, having
submitted an application for admission to the territory of a Member State, has the right to an
authorisation to reside there if he or she fulfils the general and specific conditions of the directive on
the entry to and residence in the European Union of third-country nationals for the purpose, inter alia, of
voluntary service. 2 Member States are therefore not permitted to introduce conditions additional to
those laid down in the directive. 3
The Court, in the second place, holds that the concept of ‘resources’ must be regarded as an autonomous
concept of EU law, interpreted in a uniform manner, and as having a broad scope. The assessment of the
sufficient resources is to be based on an individual examination of the case, which must be limited to
verifying that the person concerned is in a position to have those resources. The introduction of
other specific criteria, in particular concerning the nature, origin or the manner in which that person has
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