- Residence Card
European Economic Area (EEA) citizens have the right of free movement and residence throughout the EEA. This right also extends to certain family members, even if they are not EEA citizens. A Residence Card is issued to the family member to confirm this right of residence. The Residence Card also gives the holder the right to visit all EEA member states without a visa (although not all states recognise this right).Legal Background
The Residence Card is defined in articles 9 to 11 of the "Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States". See eur-lex [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004L0038:EN:NOT] for the full text of the directive. The central paragraph is article 10(1):
The right of residence of family members of a Union citizen who are not nationals of a MemberState shall be evidenced by the issuing of a document called "Residence card of a family member ofa Union citizen" no later than six months from the date on which they submit the application.
So the card only confirms the right of residence, it does not create it. Even without applying for a Residence Card, a qualifying family member has the right of residence, although it may be difficult to prove.
Implementation in the
United Kingdom The
United Kingdom has implemented this directive in theEEA Regulations (UK) and the European Casework Instructions [http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/ecis/] (especially Chapter 5 and Annex A). This implementation contains a notable difference from the directive:* The UK does not accept Residence Cards issued by other states for entry into the UK. This contradicts the directive, which say that the residence card grants entry to any EU member state. In fact, this is cited as one of the main advantages of the new directive by the
European Commission . [http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/06/179&format=HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en]The application for a Residence Card in the UK is easy. It is usually handled using Form EEA2, [http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/applyingundereuropeanlaw/] and the application is send by post. Unfortunately, the processing time seems to be very close to the legal maximum of 6 month and sometimes exceeds this limit (as of 2008), and there is absolute no way to accelerate the process. The Certificate of Application is returned within a few weeks, but it is not clear which purpose it serves apart from explaining in general terms the right to work.
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