On 16 July 2012, the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 changed.
It now gives effect to various judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) including the cases of: Chen (C-200/02), Ibrahim (C-310/08) and Teixeira (C-480/08) which establish new rights to enter and reside in the UK.
New regulation 15A sets out the conditions which a person must satisfy in order to qualify for a derivative right of residence on the basis of the ECJ judgments in Chen and Ibrahim and Teixeira. Rights to reside on the basis of these judgments are not ones which stem directly from the Directive, explaining why they are referred to as ‘derivative rights’. This means that the recognition of this right by the UK is not equal to rights under the Directive. It also means that those who acquire rights to reside on this basis are not eligible to acquire permanent residence in the United Kingdom or to sponsor wider family members in to the UK once they have acquired a right to reside.
The following categories of people are provided for in regulation 15A:
• primary carers of self-sufficient EEA national children
• children of EEA national workers or former workers where the child is in education in the UK
• primary carers of children of EEA national workers or former workers where that child is in education in the UK, and
• dependent children under the age of 18 of the primary carers in each of the categories listed above
Those who satisfy the conditions of new regulation 15A may qualify for a derivative residence card if applying within the UK under new regulation 18A, an EEA family permit if overseas under amended regulation 12 or may assert a right to enter at the UK border under amended regulation 11(4).
