Friday 4 April 2014

Family Reunion for Third-Country Nationals: Comments on the Commission’s new guidance



Steve Peers

Family life is a key part of the day-to-day lives of all residents of the EU (whether they are EU citizens or not). For non-EU citizens (third-country nationals), the issue is regulated by the EU Directive on family reunion for third-country nationals, which was adopted back in 2003. The Commission’s new guidance on this Directive raises new prospects for its effective enforcement and correct interpretation. While the guidance addresses a number of issues well, it could still be improved or clarified on a number of points.

 Background

In 2008, the Commission issued a report on the application of the Directive, which indicated that Member States had breached the Directive in dozens of ways. However, it did not bring any infringement actions against Member States. In 2011, it issued a Green Paper on possible reform of the Directive, but ultimately decided against proposing any amendments, seemingly due to fear that if any proposal were made, Member States would ultimately insist on dropping the degree of protection for family reunion, rather than raising it. So instead, the Commission has issued this guidance document – only 11 years after the Directive was initially adopted.

It should be noted that the Directive applies to 25 Member States, ie not the UK, Ireland or Denmark, which exercised their opt-outs.

General points

The Commission quite rightly relies upon the prior CJEU judgments relating to the Directive. In EP v Council, the Court upheld some provisions of the Directive which the European Parliament challenged for breach of human rights. However, the Court made clear that the exceptions in the Directive could not be applied automatically, but on a case-by-case basis. In Chakroun, the CJEU stated that the conditions and exceptions in the Directive had to be interpreted narrowly, so as not to frustrate the main purpose of facilitating family reunion. The concepts in the Directive that made no reference to national law had to be interpreted uniformly; the Directive had to be interpreted in accordance with human rights (the right to family life, in the ECHR and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights); and Member States could not use their discretion to undercut the objectives of the Directive.

Personal scope

Several issues arise as regards the personal scope of the Directive. First of all, it does not apply to EU citizens who seek family reunion with their third-country national family members, as confirmed by the CJEU in Dereci. However, the CJEU also made clear in the 2012 S and O judgment that in the case of ‘mixed nationality’ families, ie where a parent is a third-country national and a child is an EU citizen, the parent can rely upon the Directive. But it is also possible that the sponsor is a dual citizen of both the EU and a third State, and the Commission does not expressly comment on what happens in that case. It should be noted that the CJEU has ruled, in the Kahveci case, that the EU/Turkey rules on Turkish workers’ family members still apply to dual citizens of Turkey and a Member State. So it is arguable that, by analogy, the same rule applies to the family reunion Directive. The issue is only relevant, of course, as regards dual EU/third-country citizens who live in their own Member State, because EU citizens who move to other Member States can rely upon the more generous family reunion rules in the EU’s citizens’ Directive. Those EU citizens who live in their own Member State can rely on EU family reunion rules only if they have moved to other Member States and returned, or exercise some activity, in another Member State, as recently clarified by the CJEU.

Another important question is how to interpret the rule that the sponsor must have a ‘reasonable prospect’ of permanent residence. The Commission lays great stress on national discretion here. While it makes some good points about the limits to that discretion, the better argument is that this is a uniform concept of EU law (in the absence of any reference to national law). Furthermore, the guidance should have mentioned the possibility that other EU laws could be relevant to determining whether such a prospect exists, in particular the EU/Turkey association rules and EU legislation on long-term residents, refugee qualification, researchers and highly-skilled migrants.

Family members

 The Commission makes a good case that the concept of dependency, which is crucial where a child is not the joint child of the sponsor and his or her spouse, should be determined by analogy with the EU citizens’ Directive. However, it does not mention Reyes, the most recent judgment on this issue, which established the important points that the reasons for the support of a family member do not matter (the existence of remittances is enough to show that dependence exists), and that the possibility of the family member getting a job in the host State are irrelevant.

As for the possibility of requiring the spouse to be a minimum age before admission (no older than 21), the Commission makes the sound point that this rule must be applied on a case-by-case basis, for instance exempting spouses from this requirement if there is no doubt that there is no forced marriage. It also rightly argues that it is sufficient that the spouse meets the age requirement at the time of admission, not the time of the application. The latter issue will be decided by the CJEU in the pending case of Noorzia.

 Conditions for admission

The Commission states that Member States have wide leeway to accept in-country admissions from family members in certain cases. In fact, since the entire Directive sets minimum standards (Article 3(5)), Member States should be free to accept in-country applications in all cases.

As for fees to be charged for family reunion applications, the new guidance makes some good points on the limits imposed by the principle of proportionality, in accordance with CJEU case law on the long-term residence Directive.

While the Commission argues implicitly that the ‘public health’ requirement in the Directive can be interpreted by analogy with the citizens’ Directive, it states that the public policy and public security rules in the latter directive are only relevant by way of background. Arguably the latter rules also apply by analogy, since the drafters of the family reunion directive chose to use the same terms as those in the citizens’ Directive.

The Commission makes some good points about the accommodation requirement. In particular, it should be sufficient that the sponsor will be able to satisfy that requirement at the time of admission of family members, not at the time of application. It would be disproportionate for a person who is de facto single to have to rent or buy family accommodation for months or even two years before his or her family members are admitted.

This brings us to the integration requirement. The permissibility of a language requirement has been raised in the pending case of Dogan, although that case also raises the interesting question of whether the standstill clause in the EU/Turkey association precludes the application of a new requirement of this nature. More broadly, the Commission makes a strong argument that any integration requirement must be proportionate and applied on a case-by-case basis, taking account of individual circumstances and the limited access of females to education in some developing countries. There is a very recent case referred to the CJEU (for details, see the annex below; many thanks to Jeremy Bierbach for this information) that will clarify this point.

Next, the Commission rightly states that the waiting period of up to two years must include any ‘legal stay’ of the sponsor even before the sponsor met the conditions for family reunion under the Directive. It also suggests some sound guidance relating to continuity of residence.

Refugees

The Commission’s discussion regarding the special rules for refugees gives the unfortunate impression that all of these rules can be disapplied if the refugee had ‘special links’ with a third State, or did not apply within three months. In fact, only the special rules relating to waiving the conditions in Article 7 are subject to these possible waivers.

However, the Commission does make good points about the high threshold needed to show that a refugee had ‘special links’ with a third State, and the burden of proof which falls on a Member State which wishes to apply this rule. It also rightly states that Member States which require the family member to make an application for family reunion should take account of the particular issues relating to refugees.

Legal challenges

Finally, the Commission makes the sound points that in light of Article 47 of the EU Charter, legal challenges to family reunion decisions must apply to all decisions made pursuant to the Directive, must permit access to a court, and must consider all issues of fact and law, including a review of the merits of decisions.

Conclusions

The Commission’s guidance is largely welcome, subject to the criticisms made above. But it is also rather overdue. One can only hope that it proves useful to national courts and administrations, and that the Commission does not hesitate to bring infringement actions to back up its convictions about the correct interpretation of these key rules facilitating the right to family life of third-country nationals.


 Barnard & Peers: Chapter 26

 Annex – new pending case on integration measures: translation and notes by Jeremy Bierbach

  Preliminary reference from the Council of State of 1 April 2013, cases 201211916/1/V2 and 201300404/1/V2, K. and A. vs. Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken:

 1.a Can the term 'integration conditions' - contained in Art. 7(2) of Directive 2003/86/EC of the Council of the European Union of 22 December 2003 concerning the right to family reunification (PB 2003 L 251, with rectification in PB 2012 L 71) - be interpreted in such a way that the competent national authorities of the member states can require of the family member of a third-country national [Dutch: lit. "family unifier"] that the family member shows that he or she possesses knowledge of the official language of the member state at a level corresponding to level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages, as well as knowledge at a basic level of the society of the member state, before these authorities grant this family member permission for entry and residence?

 1.b For the answer to this question, is it of importance that, i.a. in the context of the proportionality test as described in the European Commission's Green Paper of 15 November 2011 concerning the right to family reunification, according to national regulations imposing the condition mentioned in 1.a, the application for permission for entry and residence, barring the circumstance that the family member has demonstrated that he or she is durably incapable of taking the integration exam due to a psychological or physical disability, will only not be rejected if a combination of very special individual circumstances are present that justify the assumption that the family member is durably incapable of satisfying the integration conditions?

 2. Does the goal of Directive 2003/86/EC, and in particular Art. 7(2) of it, preclude that the examination to test whether the family member satisfies the aforementioned integration conditions costs €350 for every time that the examination is taken, and that the one-time cost of the study materials to prepare for the examination is €110?

 The basic details of the case: K. is a national of Azerbaijan who applied for a preliminary visa at the Dutch embassy in Ankara for the purpose of applying for a residence permit for stay with her husband (nationality not provided). She submitted a medical statement that she suffers from diabetes, hypertension, coronary disease, hypercholesteremia and morbid obesity, which makes her, in her claim, incapable of taking the Dutch consular integration exam. A. is a national of Nigeria who applied for the same type of preliminary visa at the Dutch embassy in Abuja. She submitted medical documents showing that she suffers from a psychological disorder for which she has to take medication. In both cases, the Deputy Minister of Justice (the political head of the Dutch immigration authority IND, which takes decisions on visas on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the formal defendant in this case) denied that the disabilities demonstrated were sufficient to warrant exemption from the consular integration exam. Moreover, the Deputy Minister went on: the consular integration exam does not violate the Directive.

34 comments:

  1. Can an EU member bring his wife a third country nationals in the EU as he has moved with the European Union area and does not live in his birth country?

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  2. Yes, the EU citizens' Directive provides that if an EU citizen moves to another Member State he/she can bring his/her spouse and a number of other family members, regardless of their nationality.

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  3. Does a married non e.u citizen asylum seeker father of a e.u child(not married with the e.u women) has a right of residence in ireland?

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  4. Is the non-EU citizen a registered partner of the EU citizen? Then yes, if the EU citizen is a national of another Member State and living in Ireland, as long as Ireland treats registered partnerships the same as marriage, subject to any further conditions in Irish law.

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  5. Can third country national who holds indefinate stay in another eu country can stay and work in Denmark?

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    1. Not under EU law, since Denmark does not apply the EU's long-term residence Directive. It would be entirely up to Danish law to decide on this situation. It would be different if the third-country national were a family member of an EU citizen.

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  6. My wife and my two sons are British citizens and I am an asylum seeker in Germany I have provided the Germany immigration with our marriage certificate and the rest of information regarding my family what would the outcome be

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    1. I can't give advice on individual cases. But broadly speaking, a case like this falls within the scope of the EU citizens' Directive, not the family reunion Directive. You need to supply all the information to prove the family connection and other requirements listed in the citizens' Directive (if you don't know that Directive already, Google 'Directive 2004/38'). Your wife would also have to be with you in Germany exercising EU law rights, ie working or something similar, at least not in Germany solely to claim benefits without looking for work.

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  7. Im have 5 years leave to remain ( refugee status) in uk , my wife got refugee status in germany can i join my wife in germany and transfer my refugee status?

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    1. I can't comment on individual cases. But both Germany and the UK have ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the transfer of refugee status, so in principle a transfer of refugee status is possible if the conditions in that treaty, as applied in national law, are met. Also Germany is signed up to the EU family reunion Directive, which includes special rules for family reunion of refugees' family members,

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    2. My husband is refugee in denmark but i came to germany
      when i get refugee status in germany can my husband transfer his refugee status from denmark to germany???

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  8. how do you think of the Article 5(3) of the Directive 2003/86/EU which said the application must be submitted by family member residing outside the territory. what is the rationale of this article? why should him reside outside the country? if he had a visa and come into the state with his spouse who has a permanent residence, why cannot he apply inside the state?

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    1. I don't think very much of this article. The rationale is to avoid people circumventing immigration law, but that concern could be addressed instead by requiring the family member to be legally present, or even to have a residence permit of at least one year's duration, in order to make an in-country application. But note that Member States can set higher standards, or waive this clause in individual cases.

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  9. if i have a refuge status in denmark and my wife has also refuge status in germany and we were married before we come to europe and it is wiitten in our profiles in immigration in the both countries that we were married
    can i transfer my status to germany as family reunion and join to my wife?

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    1. I can't give advice on individual cases. Germany is bound by the Directive, but Denmark is not. Germany is covered by the basic rule in the family reunion Directive that Member States must admit the spouse and minor children of refugees. Some of the conditions in the Directive are waived for refugees, but some still apply.

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    2. As for the transfer of refugee status, Germany and Denmark have both ratified a treaty which provides for this. This treaty says that refugee status will transfer to the second State two years after moving there. It would be best to ask for detailed legal advice on this as there may be important conditions in national law which have to be complied with: http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/107

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  10. My wife she is refugee in germany and i am british how csn i pring in uk

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    1. The UK has opted out of the law discussed in this blog post, which anyway doesn't apply to EU citizens living in their own country who want to obtain family reunion with non-EU citizens (whether or not they are refugees). So the issue is purely up to British law - I suggest you contact a solicitor or a refugee aid agency to ask for advice.
      Alternatively, unless the UK leaves the EU, you would of course be able to move to Germany and enjoy family reunion there - provided you got a job or were otherwise self-sufficient there in accordance with EU free movement law.

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. I can't comment on individual cases. But in general a non-EU citizen married to an EU citizen in her own Member State is outside the scope of EU free movement law or the family reunion directive. There might be a link to EU law if that non-EU citizen is a long-term resident under EU law or if forcing the parent to leave will in effect force his EU citizen child to leave as well.
      Alternatively there is an argument under human rights law (not EU law): the case law on Article 8 ECHR protects the right to family life, including parent/minor child relationships, and usually means that the parent cannot be expelled, particularly where the residence has been legal and there is no criminal conviction or security risk.

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  12. I'm a third country national have three months D-visa in Germany living with my wife but we are currently experiencing misunderstandings, can i seek residence on my own?

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    1. You need to ask a lawyer about the details of your position.

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  13. i am third country national , may daughter is Romanian and i have a member family of Romanian permit (my daughter is Romanian) under the Romanian national law of family reunification... my actual wife is also third country national .. can i reunify with my wife under the the directive of family reunification 2003/86/CE that is clearly and only applied between two non EU nationals? i mean me as sponsor for my non EU national even if i have family member of Romanian whus us a national law !!

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    1. I can't give advice on individual cases. But in general if a third-country national is already legally resident in a Member State and satisfies all the conditions to be a sponsor, he or she can sponsor the admission of a non-EU spouse under the Directive, even if there is an EU citizen child, provided that the sponsor also meets the relevant conditions. This logically follows by analogy from the ECJ judgment in Case C-356/11, starting at paragraph 61: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=131491&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=179088

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  14. Dear Mr. Peers,

    at the moment I am finishing my diploma thesis, which is about "family reunification under Art 8 ECHR and the directive 2003/86/EC. The main doctrine says, that there is no individual claim to family reunification, resulting out of Art 8 ECHR.Instead there can (if requirements are fulfilled) be a right to family reunion. But what would you say in case of the directive? Especially in some cases , where there is no margin of appreciation (Art 4 (1) of the directive)? Is there a general claim?

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    1. Have a look at the Court's case law on the Directive. It has consistently said that the Directive confers an individual right to family reunion, subject to the limits and conditions which it sets out.

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  15. Good day Steve peers....I have a friend who has Spanish resident but later moved to Germany to seek asylum,along the line he got married with a danish woman and he has seeked for family reunification in denmark why his asylum case in Germany still processing. Can that be a problem with his reunification in denmark

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    1. This is an issue for the national law of Denmark, which I understand is quite restrictive.

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  16. Hello - what are the rules for the children of my wife. My wife is from the Philippines. Her sons are 18 and 16 years old. She is the solo provider since they where abandoned by the father in 2005. I will be moving to Germany soon and from there apply for family reunification.

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    1. If you are an EU citizen who moves to another Member State and exercises free movement rights then EU free movement law would apply. That law explicitly gives a right to family reunion with children of the spouse of the EU citizen (ie step-children) as long as they are under 21 or dependent.

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  17. Is there relevant case-law that can determine whether the notion of spouse in Article 4 of this Directive should also include same-sex relationships?

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    1. There is no ECJ case law on that yet. But in the first week in June the ECJ will rule on the analogous issue as regards EU free movement law.

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  18. a NON EU CITIZEN who retain right of resident after divorce from his EU spouse and have the ordinary 5 years resident permit for family member, can he bring his new partner into the UK who is Russian??

    if he can

    wouldn't That mean conferring EU rights to non EU citizen??

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    1. This blog post concerns the EU legislation for family reunion of non-EU citizen sponsors. So of course those non-EU sponsors have rights under the Directive, but they are not as generous as for EU citizens who move between Member States. This Directive does not apply to the UK.

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