A long-term resident in the European Union is a person who is not a citizen of an EU country but has resided legally and continuously within its territory for five years with a means of support and fulfills some further requirements, as defined in Directive 2003/109/EC. The status permits the holder some of the rights of free movement afforded to EU/EEA citizens in the participating countries; of the EU countriesDenmark and Ireland do not participate in implementing the Directive. The implementation of the directive is left to the participating countries, with some national variations in the requirements for and benefits of long-term resident status.
Participating countries
Countries participating in the implementation of the directive include:
Holders of an eligible residence permit can after five years of residence apply for status as a long-term EU resident in Finland, providing they have not resided outside the country for more than six months at a time and ten months in total. This status can be withdrawn if the holder has continuously resided outside the EU for more than two years, or outside Finland for more than six years. Those holding long-term EU resident status from another EU country wishing to reside in Finland may do so from that country or in Finland.
Netherlands
In order to acquire status as a long-term EU resident in the Netherlands, one must have five consecutive years residence on non-temporary grounds. Long-term EU residents moving to the Netherlands are exempted from the requirement for a provisional residence permit, but will still need to apply for a residence permit. Holders of long-term EU resident status coming to the Netherlands for employment do not apply for the combined residence/work permit used by other third-country nationals, but rather apply for the work permit separately with the :nl:Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen|Employee Insurance Agency. Additionally, status holders coming for employment will only require a work permit for the first 12 months, as opposed to the ordinary five years.
Sweden
Before 2019, the law was such that, in order to acquire status as a long-term EU resident in Sweden, one must have resided in Sweden continuously for five years on residence permits and have a permanent residence permit. Since 2019, a person who has stayed in Sweden for five years without interruption with a residence permit or "legally resident in another way" may apply for long-term resident status. This law change was made so that British citizens living in Sweden after Brexit would be able to apply for the status, because otherwise they would have been ineligible given they have lived in Sweden under right of residence, not with residence permits. The person applying must also have a means of supporting themselves. However, time on visitor's residence permit or residence permit for studies, among others, cannot be counted towards this time. Long-term EU residents moving to Sweden are required to apply for a residence permit if they stay for more than 90 days. They are however permitted to begin work or studies upon arrival, without waiting for a decision in such case. A work permit is not required for a long-term EU resident, however a hiring certificate must be submitted for such residents applying on the grounds of employment.
Reception
Following the deadline for the introduction of a specific immigration status as a long-term resident of the European Union in 2006, the Directive was found to affect a relatively small percentage of the third-country nationals in most participating countries. Additionally, of these, few used their mobility rights within the EU. Main reasons cited for lack of adoption are the following:
the lack of information available about the LTR status among third-country nationals
the lack of information available about the LTR status among national migration administrations
the "competition" with national schemes:
* national long-term residence permits, and
* possibility to obtain EU citizenship in 5 years or shorter time in some countries
long-term resident permits issued in one EU country are exchanged to non-long-term resident permits in a new country
Additional information
According to the chapter IV, Article 24 of the Directive, periodically the Commission reports to the European Parliament and to the Council on the application of this Directive in the Member States and proposes amendments as may be necessary. Reports provide information on specifics of application of the Directive in national legislation systems, as well as statistics of adoption of this type of residence permit. There were 2,861,306 long-term residents by the end of 2018, with 69.8% of them with permit issued by Italy.
