The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Thursday 20 January (Case C-432/20) that a third-country national does not lose their long-term resident status even if their presence in the EU is limited to a few days over a period of twelve consecutive months. “Once acquired, the right of permanent residence shall be lost only through absence from the host Member State for a period exceeding two consecutive years”, the Court also ruled.
The case concerns an Austrian court’s rejection of an application by a Kazakh national to renew his long-term resident permit in the EU on the grounds that, during the five years preceding the application, he had been present in the EU for only a few days a year, so that he was to be considered absent from the territory. The Court of Justice had to interpret the directive on the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents, which provides that long-term residents lose their status if they are “absent” from the territory of the Union for a period of twelve consecutive months.
It also had to decide whether any physical presence of the person concerned on EU territory over a period of twelve consecutive months, even for a few days, is sufficient to prevent the loss of his or her status, or whether Member States may impose additional conditions.
The Court adopted the first interpretation, considering that, except in the event of abuse, “it is sufficient, in order to prevent the loss of long-term resident status, for the person concerned to be present, during the period of 12 consecutive months following the start of his or her absence, in the territory of the European Union, even if such a presence does not exceed a few days in total”.
The aim of the directive is to ensure that third-country nationals who have settled permanently and legally in the EU are integrated and, once they have acquired long-term resident status, enjoy the same rights as EU citizens.
Link to the judgment: https://bit.ly/3Av1vgJ (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)