Surinder Singh Case

The Upper Tribunal considered the test set out in Regulation 9 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/1052 which seeks to implement R v Immigration Appeal Tribunal and Surinder Singh Case and subsequent judgments. The Upper Tribunal found that the:

‘requirement to have transferred the centre of one’s life to the host member state is not a requirement of EU law, nor is it endorsed by the CJEU.’

In terms of the genuine residence test the question was whether there had been a genuine exercise of Treaty Rights which is a fact-specific question. The tribunal also confirmed that:

‘There is no requirement for the EU national or his family to have integrated into the host member state, nor for the sole place of residence to be in the host state; there is no requirement to have severed ties with the home member state; albeit that these factors may, to a limited degree, be relevant to the qualitative assessment of whether the exercise of Treaty rights was genuine.’

The tribunal also gave some helpful guidance on ‘abuse of rights’ reminding that the burden is on the SSHD if such abuse is alleged.