Long-term resident (European Union)

A long-term resident in the European Union is a person who is not a citizen of an EU country but has resided legally and continuously within its territory for five years with a means of support (i.e. without recourse to the social assistance system of the host country) and fulfills some further requirements, as defined in Directive 2003/109/EC.[1] The status permits the holder some of the rights of free movement afforded to EU/EEA citizens in the participating countries; of the EU countries Denmark and Ireland (and, prior to its withdrawal, the United Kingdom) do not participate in implementing the Directive. The implementation of the directive is left to the participating countries, with some national variations in the requirements for and benefits of long-term resident status.

Participating countries

Countries participating in the implementation of the directive include:[2][3]

Implementation by country

Finland

Holders of an eligible residence permit (excluding asylum) can after five years of residence apply for status as a long-term EU resident in Finland, providing they have not resided outside the country for more than six months at a time and ten months in total.[4] This status can be withdrawn if the holder has continuously resided outside the EU for more than two years, or outside Finland for more than six years.[5]

Those holding long-term EU resident status from another EU country wishing to reside in Finland may do so from that country or in Finland.[6]

Netherlands

In order to acquire status as a long-term EU resident in the Netherlands, one must have five consecutive years residence on non-temporary grounds.[3]

Long-term EU residents moving to the Netherlands are exempted from the requirement for a provisional residence permit (Dutch: mvv), but will still need to apply for a residence permit.[3] Holders of long-term EU resident status coming to the Netherlands for employment do not apply for the combined residence/work permit used by other third-country nationals, but rather apply for the work permit separately (Dutch: TWV) with the Employee Insurance Agency (Dutch: UWV).[7] Additionally, status holders coming for employment will only require a work permit for the first 12 months, as opposed to the ordinary five years.[8]

Sweden

Before 2019, the law was such that, in order to acquire status as a long-term EU resident in Sweden, one must have resided in Sweden continuously for five years on residence permits (Swedish: uppehållstillstånd) and have a permanent residence permit (Swedish: permanent uppehållstillstånd). Since 2019, a person who has stayed in Sweden for five years without interruption with a residence permit or "legally resident in another way" may apply for long-term resident status.[9] This law change was made so that British citizens living in Sweden after Brexit would be able to apply for the status,[10] because otherwise they would have been ineligible given they have lived in Sweden under right of residence, not with residence permits.

The person applying must also have a means of supporting themselves. However, time on visitor's residence permit or residence permit for studies, among others, cannot be counted towards this time.[2]

Long-term EU residents moving to Sweden are required to apply for a residence permit if they stay for more than 90 days. They are however permitted to begin work or studies upon arrival, without waiting for a decision in such case.[2] A work permit (Swedish: arbetstillstånd) is not required for a long-term EU resident, however a hiring certificate must be submitted for such residents applying on the grounds of employment.[11]

Reception

Following the deadline for the introduction of a specific immigration status as a long-term resident of the European Union in 2006, the Directive was found to affect a relatively small percentage of the third-country nationals in most participating countries. Additionally, of these, few used their mobility rights within the EU[12].

Main reasons cited[13] for lack of adoption are the following:

  • the lack of information available about the LTR status among third-country nationals
  • the lack of information available about the LTR status among national migration administrations
  • the "competition" with national schemes:
    • national long-term residence permits, and
    • possibility to obtain EU citizenship in 5 years or shorter time
  • the "competition" with the Blue Card (European Union)
  • integration requirements

Main reasons cited[13][14] for lack of intra-EU mobility for third-country nationals with LTR are the following:

  • labour market restrictions and labour market tests in States different than those in which they originally resided
  • administrative barriers
  • recognition of degrees and diplomas
  • integration requirements

Additional information

According to the chapter IV, Article 24 of the Directive,[1] periodically the Commission reports to the European Parliament and to the Council on the application of this Directive in the Member States and proposes amendments as may be necessary. Reports[13] provide information on specifics of application of the Directive in national legislation systems, as well as statistics of adoption of this type of residence permit.

There were 2,861,306 long-term residents by the end of 2018,[15] with 69.8% of them with permit issued by Italy.

See also

References
  1. "Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents". Council of the European Union. 25 November 2003.
  2. "Uppehållstillstånd i Sverige för någon med status som varaktigt bosatt i ett annat EU-land" (in Swedish). Migrationsverket. 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015.
  3. "Long term third country nationals". Immigration and Naturalisation Service. 14 April 2015. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014.
  4. "Applying for an EU residence permit". Finnish Immigration Service. Archived from the original on 5 December 2015.
  5. "Withdrawal and expiry of EU residence permit". Finnish Immigration Service. Archived from the original on 5 December 2015.
  6. "Applying for a residence permit in Finland on the basis of an EU residence permit". Finnish Immigration Service. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015.
  7. "Working as an employee". Immigration and Naturalisation Service. 8 April 2015. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015.
  8. "Economically non-active long term resident EC". Immigration and Naturalisation Service.
  9. "Lag om ändring i utlänningslagen (2005:716)". Svensk författningssamling (in Swedish). 2019-06-18. SFS 2019:462. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  10. "Åtgärder som underlättar för brittiska medborgare i Sverige vid ett avtalslöst brexit". Regeringskansliet (in Swedish). 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  11. "Anställa någon med status som varaktigt bosatt i EU" (in Swedish). Migrationsverket. 13 November 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015.
  12. "Commission 'deplores weak impact' of EU long-term residence directive". MIPEX Blog. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015.
  13. "Report on the implementation of Directive 2003/109/EC on the status of long-term foreign residents". The European Commission. 29 May 2019.
  14. "Intra-EU Mobility of third-country nationals, European Migration Network Study 2013" (PDF). European Migration Network (EMN).
  15. "Long-term residents by citizenship on 31 December of each year, EU directive". Eurostat.
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