On April 4, 2017, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in Fahimian v. Bundesrepublik Deutschland that national authorities may refuse to grant a study visa to a third country national with a degree from a university subject to restrictive measures due to concerns over a potential threat to public security. According to the press release, the case concerned an Iranian student, Sahar Fahimian, who holds a Master of Science from an Iranian university that is the subject of restrictive measures from the EU and was denied a visa to pursue doctoral studies in Germany. Germany “justifies the refusal by the fear that the knowledge Ms Fahimian might acquire during her research could subsequently be misused in Iran (for purposes such as the collection of confidential information in western countries, internal repression, or more generally in connection with human rights violations).” The Court held that “national authorities enjoy a wide discretion in assessing the facts in order to ascertain whether, in the light of all the relevant elements of the situation of the third country national who is applying for a visa for study purposes, that person represents a threat, even if potential, to public security.” The Court noted that states must still ensure the denial of a visa under Directive 2004/114 on the conditions of admission of third country nationals for study purposes “is based on duly justified grounds and a sufficiently solid factual basis.”