The European Court of Justice has found the British visa system for
family members of EU citizens to be illegal. Current visa regulations
breach EU laws on free movement, European judges have ruled.
The European Union's court said that Britain would no longer require entry visas for non-EU persons who were family members of EU citizens and held a residence permit from an EU member state.
In the case of Helena Patricia McCarthy Rodriguez, a Colombian who holds a Spanish residence permit and is married to a British-Irish national, authorities would have no right to insist on a visa before she went to Britain, the EU supreme court ruled.
"The directive on free movement of union citizens does not allow measures which ... preclude family members from entering the territory of a member state without a visa," said the Luxemburg based court on Thursday.
According to the court's statement, Britain's concern about a high number of identity fraud cases did not justify imposing a visa requirement on a whole group of people. However, Britain could refuse the right to visa-free entry on a case to case basis.
Read more: Top EU court rules against Britain in visa dispute | News | DW.DE | 18.12.2014
The European Union's court said that Britain would no longer require entry visas for non-EU persons who were family members of EU citizens and held a residence permit from an EU member state.
In the case of Helena Patricia McCarthy Rodriguez, a Colombian who holds a Spanish residence permit and is married to a British-Irish national, authorities would have no right to insist on a visa before she went to Britain, the EU supreme court ruled.
"The directive on free movement of union citizens does not allow measures which ... preclude family members from entering the territory of a member state without a visa," said the Luxemburg based court on Thursday.
According to the court's statement, Britain's concern about a high number of identity fraud cases did not justify imposing a visa requirement on a whole group of people. However, Britain could refuse the right to visa-free entry on a case to case basis.
Read more: Top EU court rules against Britain in visa dispute | News | DW.DE | 18.12.2014
No comments:
Post a Comment