Key legal question
Whether the settlement permit had expired under Art. 61(2) AuG due to prolonged stay abroad
Extracted holding
Yes. The permit expired because the appellant had transferred his center of life to Serbia and did not maintain a sufficient residence in Switzerland; brief visits did not interrupt the six-month period.
Extracted reasoning
The court applied Art. 61(2) AuG and the earlier case law on Art. 9(3)(c) ANAG: motives and intentions are irrelevant; only a continuous absence and the actual center of life matter. The factual findings showed multiple short stays in Switzerland and a predominantly Serbian life from 2005 to 2007.