Surinder Singh Judgment

HC Deb 11 January 1996 vol 269 cc275-6W

Sir Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the additional entitlements of European nationals to bring relatives into the EU and the UK in consequence of the Surinder Singh judgment in the European Court; and if he will publish a booklet explaining the situation; [8521]

(2) what are the implications of the Surinder Singh case in the European Court in so far as the immigration law and the primary purpose rule are concerned; and what estimate has been made of the numbers of persons who have taken advantage of the implications of the judgment. [8522]

Miss Widdecombe

Nationals of the other member states of the European Economic Area are free to come to the United Kingdom with their close family members to exercise rights conferred under the provisions of the treaty of Rome relating to the free movement of workers and rights of residence.

Those rights were not affected by the Surinder Singh judgment, delivered by the European Court of Justice in July 1992. The effect of that judgment is that where a British citizen returns to the United Kingdom after exercising treaty rights in an economic capacity in another member state, his or her third-country national spouse and other close family members are entitled to enter and reside in the United Kingdom under European Community law.

In giving effect to the judgment, we require that the British citizen must have exercised substantive treaty rights in another member state, normally for a period of at least six months, as a worker or in another economically active capacity; those who resided abroad as tourists or students, for example, do not qualify. The primary purpose rule does not apply but the application is refused if the marriage is one of convenience. If the marriage ends in divorce, or if the British citizen goes abroad, the third-country spouse will no longer have a right to reside here under European Community law.

Since the judgment was delivered, we have received 73 applications based on it, of which 59 have been granted.