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by 007RAHEEL » Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:56 pm
22. Regulation 18 is, accordingly, the provision which deals with the documentation of the permanent right of residence under regulation 15. As can be seen, regulation 18 contains no reference to any requirement to produce “a valid passport” or “a valid national identity card”; nor does anything in Chapter IV of the Citizens Directive, which makes provision for the right of permanent residence.
23. In the case of the respondents, it is clear from the reasons for refusal letter and the respondents’ bundle that they made application under form EEA 4 for “Permanent Residence”. It was, therefore, necessary for the Secretary of State to determine their applications by reference to regulation 18. However, as is plain from the last quoted paragraph of the refusal letter (paragraph 4 above), the Secretary of State wrongly determined the applications by reference to regulation 17(1)(a).
The general conclusions that emerge may be stated as follows. (1) In applications under the 2006 Regulations, care must be taken to identify both the relevant rights being asserted and the relevant documentary confirmation which is being sought in respect of those rights. (2) The requirement in regulation 17(1)(a) and (2)(a) for the production of a valid passport relates to the passport of the applicant, not the EEA national. (3) The “proof” that the Secretary of State can lawfully require in applications under regulations 17 and 18 in order to entitle a non EEA national to a residence card (regulation 17) or a permanent residence card (regulation 18) may, nevertheless, depending on the circumstances, entail the production of the passport or other identity document of an EEA national; but it is unlawful to refuse applications merely because such documentation is not forthcoming. The Secretary of State needs to show a valid reason why it is required. (4) This is particularly so in the case of regulation 18, given that there is likely to be relevant material relating to such documentation on file from a previous, successful application.
Error of Law, setting aside and re-making the decision