Directive 2003/109/EC on the Status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents
- A long-term resident [of an EU member state] may [in some cases] exercise the right of residence, for a period exceeding three months, in a Member State other than the one which granted him long-term resident status
- The family members of the long-term resident may accompany him to the second Member State or join him there on condition that they already formed a family in the first Member State.
- Long-term residents living in the second Member State will retain their status in the first Member State until they have acquired the same status in the second Member State. If they so wish, they may, after being legally resident in the second Member State for five years, apply to be considered as long-term residents in that Member State.
- The UK, Ireland and Danemark are not bound by this directive
- Text of Directive 2003/109/EC
- Summary of the legislation
- Entry into force: 12.02.2004
- Deadline for transposition in the Member States: 23.01.2006
hi!
im married to a polish nacional who lives in uk.
i have been refused visa twice in the british embassy.
we have been separated for more then 8 months. i miss her and it is getting hard without her.
she is pregnant now and she need me,i can’t live her on her own, she is getting big and she has difficulties and of course she need my help, but i still have problem with my past emmigration as i was in uk before. the only thing that bugs me is that like me other peole got the visa and i was refused?
is there any hope or chance that i might get back with her?
what can i do?
she has a job there and i cant speak polish to live in poland so we are stuck.
she cry wen talkin to me and she is afraid that she will be alone in later months.
this kind of separations, i saw only in the documentaries with the nazis.
are the nazis back?
i mean is this the new area of nazi? is brawn and eu like hitler?
because i don’t see a difference between them.
to be honest i dont like london anymore even if i almost grew up there, but we cant live in another place because of language barrier.
so if you can send me some information on how to pass this situation i would be very greatfull to you.
thank you for your time.
Comment by adrian ndoni — March 26, 2008 @ 9:17 am |
Hi there,
“The UK, Ireland and Danemark are not bound by this directive”
I was in the same situation a long time ago. I got married to a Czech girl and the plan was to stay in London, but I had to apply for the “family re-union whatever-visa” from outside UK and the only place I could go was Colombia (my country). In the embassy they didn’t want to give me the residence permit and said that I had to go back to UK with a turist visa and apply from inside…. crap, Colombia ain’t that close like to go and come back and go again like around the to corner.
Now we live in Prague. They gave me the Czech Residence very easy and to be honest, I wouldn’t go back to UK even if I could. If you wanna be with your wife, I recomend you to stay in Poland. Slavic languages are difficult to learn, but not impossible and there are always some jobs that don’t require it.
Comment by "N" — September 16, 2008 @ 8:28 am |
I would be interested in any information about how Member States ares dealing with long-term residents coming from other EU members States. If you are interested in this topic, or have some practical information or are planning to use your mobility rights, please contact with
residenteslargaduracion@gmail.com
Comment by X — October 7, 2008 @ 5:09 pm |
UK is not implementing correctly most directives.
However both of you being a family member of an EU national (namely Czech and Polish) directive 2003/109 does not apply to you.
Your rights are regulated in Directive 2004/38/EC and there should not be any problem to get a free visa and after arrival in the UK a residence card for 5 years. If they don’t give you these, do complain to the European Commission that is going to publish its first report on Directive 2004/38 next week.
Comment by Prawo — November 5, 2008 @ 9:06 pm |
Dear all
I have Permanent Residence for Portugal, i want to move to NL, i heard it was possible to transfer my Permanent Residence to NL. I’d transfer my whole soul to NL. Or, if tranferrence is impossible, can i freely work in NL with a Permanent Residence to Portugal?
Regards
Teresa
Comment by Teresa — December 7, 2008 @ 10:31 pm |
Hello. Can someone please advise how is (is not) directive 109 accepted in Spain?
I have non-EU passport but I have permanent residency in EU Member State (Bulgaria, not in Schengen yet). If it was in Schengen I know the PR card would allow me visit to other Schengen countries for up to 3mths. I would like to go to Spain and probably will decide to stay and live there. However, I have been advised that I can not expect directive 109 to be used for that, in other words I could not go to Spain and ask for temporary residency on the basis of my PR in Bulgaria. Is this correct?
Do I have any chance to go to Spain like this? And do I have any options if the Spanish authorities decline to accept the directive or they are protected by national law?
On similar matter, can I at least use my PR card for tourist visit less then 3 months and without getting any additional visa? I read a remark that this directive (and other EU rules) these days allow for third-country EU permanent residents to visit other EU countries for up to 3 months without any additional visas.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Comment by Darko — December 8, 2008 @ 5:55 pm |
Attention People!
I don’t know if I should convene a great, great demonstration against this 2003/109, because it is actually one step behind to what concerns freedom of third country’s citizens. I shall explain:
- In practice, there is no difference between the pre-requisites for applying for: Permanent Residence, Long-term residence status or Nationality. All these is to complicate those who don’t understand much so they don’t benefit from rights originally granted to EU nationals.
- I have my all education in Europe. Never bother to ask for the nationality because it didn’t make me any difference up to now. I do have this permanent residence, which was suppose to be the only step behind of citizenship. Well, Permanent Residence/long term-residence…why should it be different?
- I have permanent residence status. It isn’t enough to work else where in EU. You need Long-term Residence enshrined on Directive 2003/109, which most of the countries haven’t transcripted yet, when they should have done it 3 years ago. This results in complete ignorance from us to what concerns the difference between PR and Long-term. Which seems pretty much the same if we see the meaning of both expression. It’s permanent because it’s not temporarilyy, it’s long-term precisely because it is not temporarily…but, they are telling me that I can’t move because I need to have the Long-term! Now, I can only have this IF the country that I’ve been living in has decided to transcrip the Directive 2003. If not, then I will have to be only Permanent Resident, which only allows me to stay in the same country that issued it. Now, I think I’d better ask for the nationality which might take me perhaps 6 months or so. With this said, what’s that Directive for anyway? Certainly to mislead the less understood people! It is a king of abuse, controlling and oppressing minds! Totally against Human Rights!
So, you better not jump that much for this Directive…it’s all bullshit to delay our freedom!
Cheers!
Belinda Angelino
Comment by Belinda Angelino — April 21, 2009 @ 8:04 pm |
Further more…you would have to be a permanent resident for 5 years before you get the long-term status. Which means that you would have to be a resident at least for 10 years. I will explain:
- To get a permanent residence you need to live in an EU country for 5 years right? So, to get a long-term status, you will need to have a permanent residence.
Conclusion:
They are really taking immigrants intelligence for granted! Get the nationality instead guys!
I’m waiting for my nationality. Once I get it, I will really blow about this! Join me if you are willing to do so!
Belinda Angelino
Comment by Belinda Angelino — April 22, 2009 @ 6:08 am |
I am a Nigerian who has lived in Cyprus for 5 years (1994-1999)with a temporary work permit. My two children were born there, so they own Cypriot birth certificates. We left Cyprus for Nigeria in 1999 because the EU law that allows foreigners to obtain permanent residency was not in force. Now it is in force my wife & I wonder if we could still apply for permanent residency base on the fact that we have spent 5 years working there & our two kids were born there. Please guys, advice!
Comment by Ben Adedipe — June 14, 2009 @ 6:46 pm |
If you are a Nigerian and your wife is from Nigeria, EU law does not apply. The European Union Law only applies to a person who is a Union Citizen( in possession of a passport from any EU member state) and who is exercising Treaty Right( in a country other than his or her own) and has adequate resources not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host member state. From the above analogy, I don’t think you would qualify for any right of residence under EU-law. You may wish to inquire whether Cyprus is a signatory to the provision of 2003/109/EC which recognizes Long-term residence for third country nationals who have resided legally in a member state for five years. You may want to also inquire if Cyprus has permanent residence for those who may have resided there under a work permit requirement for five years. But as far as EU-law is concerned, I don’t think you have any chance.
Comment by John — August 27, 2009 @ 9:04 am |
Dear Ben from Nigeria.
Permanent Residence can only be granted if at the moment you request it, you are/have been a resident for more than 5 years (uninterruptedly. It does not apply retroactively (for past situations).
Regards,
Belinda
Comment by Belinda Angelino — September 22, 2009 @ 8:39 pm |