New changes to the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006

The government has announced new changes to the EEA Regulations which came into force on 8th November, 2012.

The amended Regulations further qualify the rights of EEA nationals and their family members to enter and reside in the UK and confirm the conditions of rights to permanent residence.

The main changes are as follows:

• the ECJ judgment in the case of Ruiz Zambrano (C34/09) has been given effect, i.e. the carers of British citizens will have ‘derivative rights’ to enter and reside in the UK
• changes to who is defined as a ‘primary carer’ for derivative rights
• extended family members will no longer need to show they lived, before coming to the UK, in the same country as the EEA national also lived
• appeal rights of those claiming to be the ‘durable partner’ (unmarried partner) of an EEA national are limited to where the applicant has provided ‘sufficient’ evidence of the relationship with the EEA national
• new ID requirements to enable certain alternative forms of ID to be accepted  where a person is unable to provide a valid ID card or passport owing to circumstances beyond their control.

'Derivative rights' are those rights created by European case law as opposed to the European Directive 2004/38/EC. The UK government has not recognised these rights as being as legally empowering as rights under the Directive.  Those with derivative rights cannot acquire permanent residence in the UK or sponsor family members in to the UK.