WHAT IS THE MEANING OF A COMMUNITY CITIZEN?
We constantly see in the different portals, web pages, sites of interest, where we look for information on the different procedures of foreigners and immigration, and we see continuously the words community citizen, eu citizen registration, family of community citizen, with which, in the first instance it seems a simple question, and we could affirm that it is, however it is also true that it generates much confusion, especially for the holders of community cards.
Thus, when we speak of an EU citizen, we refer to any citizen of the European Union who holds the nationality of any of the EU Member States, as established in the Agreement on the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland".
MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND STATES PARTY TO THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA AGREEMENT
- Germany
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Croatia
- Denmark
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Iceland*
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein* Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Norway*
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- United Kingdom
- R. Czech
- Romania
- Sweden
- Switzerland**
*Statesparty to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
**Agreementof June 21, 1999, between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the free movement of personnel.
Indeed, EU citizens have a number of principal rights inherent to citizenship of the Union under the Treaties, which are as follows:
- Right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.
- Right to work in any EU member country.
- Right to receive health benefits.
- Right to the protection of consular and diplomatic authorities.
- The right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament and municipal elections in the Member State in which he/she resides.
- Right to address the Ombudsman.
- Right to petition the European Parliament.
However, confusion in the use of this concept often arises among holders of community cards, which by the very name is linked to the temporary authorization, who are also defined as community members. community, which can generate error.
It is necessary to refer that the community cards are those granted to the relatives of community citizens when they join or accompany them, and are going to reside in Spain for a period of more than 90 days, therefore, their holders are not community citizens, in any case they will be called relatives of community citizens.
Likewise, it is pertinent to mention that the validity of the residence card of a family member of a Union citizen is five years from the date of issue, or from the period of residence of the Union citizen, if such period is less than five years.
On the other hand, if an EU citizen, that is to say, if any citizen holding the nationality of any of the States that are part of the European Union, would like to come to reside in Spain for a period longer than three months, even if they have the right to reside in Spain due to their EU status, they are obliged to request their registration in the Central Registry of Foreigners: EU Certificate.
Taking into account the above, we conclude that the holder of the rights granted by the European treaties and directives will benefit the EU citizen or EU citizen.
And that in short, the relatives of EU citizens, with nationality of third countries, are protected under a Community Regime, a much more beneficial immigration regulation than the General Regime, foreseen for legal residents in Spain, nationals of third countries, without ties with EU citizens.
If you have any comments you can comment on this blog post. Remember that you can also write us through our free web consultation, and in case you wish to schedule an appointment with our experts we can assist you via Skype, Facetime, or phone call.
We invite you to leave us your opinion and comments below.
