Legal status and main reason for migrating

• Pages: 9-11

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Legal status and main reason

for migrating

This chapter presents some important gender differ-

ences related to legal statu s, main reason for migration,

and aspects of fa mily reunif‌ication.

Residence and citizensh ip status def‌ine rig hts enti-

tlements. Ind ividuals withou t alegal righ t to stay in

the country and those holding residence permits

of limited duration h ave access to fewer rights than

those with unlimited residence or, especially, those

who are national citize ns. In this respect it is wo rth

mentioning that EU law e nsures integration measu res

only for those legally residing in EU Member States.37

The legal status t hat immigrants a nd descendants of

immigrants have is th erefore important for developi ng

effective integration policies.

While def‌ining the conditions and procedures for grant-

ing citizenship an d determining the nu mber of third-

country nationals co ming to Member States for work

reasons falls within na tional competences, the re is EU

law governing conditions of e ntry and residence sta-

tus of third-country nati onals legally residi ng in the

EU, as well as their right s, including thei r freedom of

movement and residence in other Member States.38

For example, the Sin gle Permit Directi ve39 provides

for acommon minim um set of rights for third-cou ntry

workers residing legal ly in EU Member States. The Long-

term Residence Directive40 provides additional rights to

those who have acquired along-term residen ce status.

37 Consolidate d version of the Treaty on the Fun ctioning of the

European Union (TFEU), OJ 2012 C326, Art. 79 (4).

38 TFEU, Art.79.

39 Co uncil Directive 201 1/98/EU of 13 December 2011 on

asingle app lication procedure for as ingle permit for

third-countr y nationals to reside a nd work in the territor y

of aMember State a nd on acommon set of right s for

third-countr y workers legally resi ding in aMember State,

OJ2011L343.

40 Council D irective 2003/109/EC of 25 N ovember 2003

concerning th e status of third-count ry nationals who are

long-term residents, OJ2004 L16.

Both directives conta in equal treatment clauses in sev-

eral areas of life, such as emp loyment and workin g

conditions, recognition of diplomas and professional

qualif‌ications, education and vocational training, and

tax benef‌its. T he directive on long-term residents set s

out reinforced rights, including protection from expul-

sion, as well as for the condi tions to move and reside

in another Membe r State.

Taking into consideration that m ore women than men

come to EU Member States as fam ily members, of par-

ticular impor tance for them is Directive2003/86/EC on

family reunif‌icati on adopted in 2003. The direc tive was

adopted as amea ns to facilitate migrant i ntegration,

and lays down the conditi ons for third-country nation als

residing legally i n the EU to exercise their right to family

reunif‌ication. In addition to the conditions for family

reunif‌ication, the d irective provides for the ri ghts that

family members may enjoy when entering and estab-

lishing themselves i n the host Member State. More spe-

cif‌ically, it recognises their r ights to access education, to

access employment and self-employment activities, or

to access vocational guida nce and training.

The EU-MIDIS II sur vey covers adiverse range of immi-

grants with dif ferent migration histories in ter ms of the

time and reasons for immigration. The sample includes

women and men from 12 1 countries of origin, most from

Morocco and Turkey and many from Somalia , Nigeria,

Pakistan and B angladesh. The cou ntries of origin var y

within the EU, ref‌lecting country-specif‌ic migration

patterns. For exa mple, 60% of respondents with Sub-

Saharan origi n in Austria come from Niger ia, while in

Denmark, 91 % of this group come from So malia. In

Germany, the countries of orig in of immigrants of Sub-

Saharan origi n are more dispersed, wit h most coming

from Eritrea (19%), Ghana (18%) and Togo (11%).41

41 FRA (2017a), pp. 8 3-85.