Unmarried Partners May Qualify for EU Residence Rights

The situation

In binding advice to a UK national court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that all EU countries must recognize unmarried partnerships when evaluating applications for residence rights for dependent partners of EU nationals who have resided in other EU countries.

Background

In the Banger case brought before the CJEU, a UK national and his South African partner cohabited in the Netherlands for several years, where the South African partner held dependent status. When moving to the United Kingdom, the residence application for the South African partner was rejected because the couple was not married or in a civil partnership.

When the couple appealed the rejection, the UK court sought advice from the CJEU, which advised that the UK Immigration Authorities should consider the facts of the case and not deny the partner residency rights based solely on the fact that the couple was unmarried.

This ruling is in line with the recent Coman-Hamilton judgment, which granted residence rights to same-sex spouses.

Impact

Based on this ruling, EU nationals who move to another EU country can sponsor an unmarried partner as a dependent in any EU country, if other conditions are met. EU countries cannot obstruct the freedom of residence of EU nationals by refusing to grant their unmarried partners dependent status on the sole ground that they are not married or in a civil partnership.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].