definition of household (EU Family members)

[notrouble]

Dear all,

It seems a lot of people (EU citizens) who are trying to apply for their non-EU family members to join them in Ireland are being refused on the grounds of not being able to prove that their non-EU family members are also 'members of their household' as opposed to just living at the same address.

I am not able to find a clear definition of a 'household' in the Irish transposition of the EU Directive, but a standard definition goes along the following lines (Wikipedia):

A household consists of one or more people who live in the same dwelling and also share at meals or living accommodation, and may consist of a single family or some other grouping of people

And as a result, it seems that family members that live with an EU citizen at the same address (in the same dwelling) are members of the same household.

Any other views on this?

[notrouble]

A quick follow up comment. The reality is that in countries like Ireland and the UK, citizens and EU nationals do not have to register with the immigration authorities, police or even local authorities.

In contrast, in Spain (or Italy) one needs to register with the local authorities or city hall (ayuntamiento). To do so, the owner of the property (or the main tenant) will need to come to a local commune (ayuntamiento) and ask them to register a new family member. This registration in Spain is known as empadronamiento. As anyone in Spain (whether legal or illegal in the country) can register with the commune and become an empodranado, it is a very easy procedure. The registration has little to do with the immigration authorities as it is mainly used to get access (or resident discounts) to local facilities like schools, gyms, swimming pools, etc.

As a result, a special certificate can be requested at any point from these local authorities in Spain (ayuntamiento), and this certificate is known as a certificato de empadronamiento. The document costs about 2 euros, takes a maximum of a few days to issue and lists everyone registered in the same dwelling.

This document is often required by the Spanish authorities when an EU citizen (like myself) applies to bring their non-EU family members.

Since this is not the case in Ireland or the UK, I am not sure how and which local authorities in these two countries could possibly issue a document proving that a number of people are in fact living together as members of the same household.