Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals
Date: 2001-03-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU national, European standard, admission of aliens, confidentiality, residence permit, technical specification

C 180 E/304

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Official Journal of the European Communities

26.6.2001

Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-
country nationals

(2001/C 180 E/29)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2001) 157 final (cid:151) 2001/0082(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 22 March 2001)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 63 (3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) The Amsterdam Treaty aims establishing progressively an
area of freedom, security and justice and confers a shared
right of initiative to the Commission in order to take the
relevant measures on a harmonised immigration policy.

(2) The special European Council of Tampere emphasised the
need for this harmonised immigration policy and in view
of the provisions of the Treaty related to the entry and
residence of third-country nationals.

(3) The Joint Action of 16 December 1996 adopted by the
the Treaty on
Council on the basis of Article K.3 of
European Union concerning a uniform format
for
residence permits (97/11/JHA) (1) confirms the necessity
to harmonise the format of residence permits issued by
Member States to third country nationals.

(4) The Joint Action 97/11/JHA should now be replaced by a

Community measure.

(5) It

for

that

is essential

the uniform format

residence
permits should contain all
the necessary information
and meet very high technical standards, in particular as
regards safeguards against counterfeiting and falsification;
this will contribute to the objective of preventing and
fighting against illegal immigration and illegal residence.
It must also be suited to use by all the Member States and
bear universally recognisable harmonised security features,
which are clearly visible to the naked eye.

than necessary,

(7) To ensure that the information referred to is not made
available to more persons
is also
essential that each Member State should designate not
more than one body having responsibility for printing
the uniform format for residence permits, with Member
States remaining free to change the body. For security
reasons, each Member State must communicate the
name of the competent body to the Commission and to
the other Member States.

it

(8) With regard to the personal data to be entered on the
uniform format for residence permits, compliance should
be ensured with Directive 95/46/EC of
the European
Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on
the protection of individuals with regard to the processing
of personal data and on the free movement of such
data (3).

(9) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Regulation are measures of general scope within the
meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of
28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise
of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (4),
they should be adopted by use of
regulatory
procedure provided for in Article 5 of that decision.

the

(10) The present Regulation constitutes in relation to the
implementation of the Agreement on the association of
Norway and Iceland a development of
the Schengen
integrating the
acquis
Schengen acquis into the framework of
the European
Union;

in the sense of

the Protocol

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(6) This Regulation only lays down such specifications as are
not secret; these specifications need to be supplemented
by further specifications which are to remain secret in
to prevent counterfeiting and falsifications and
order
which may not include personal data or references to
such data. Powers to adopt such supplementary specifi-
cations should be conferred to the Commission, who shall
be assisted by the Committee established by Article 6 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995
laying down a uniform format for visas (2).

Article 1

1.
Residence permits issued by Member States to third
country nationals shall be in a uniform format and provide
space for the information set out in the annex hereto. The
uniform format can be used as a sticker or a stand-alone
document. Each Member State may add in the relevant space
of the uniform format information of importance regarding the
the permit and the legal status of
nature of
the person
in particular information as to whether or not
concerned,
the person is permitted to work.

(1) OJ L 7, 10.1.1997, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 164, 14.7.1995, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.
(4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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2.

For the purpose of this Regulation:

(a) (cid:145)residence permit(cid:146) shall mean any authorisation issued by
the authorities of a Member State allowing a third country
national to stay legally on its territory, with the exception
of:

where appropriate, to ask for any corrections or deletions to
be made.

No information in machine-readable form shall be included in
the residence permit, unless provided for in the Annex hereto,
or unless it is mentioned in the relevant travel document.

(i) visas,

Article 5

(ii) permits issued pending examination of an application

for a residence permit or for asylum.

This Regulation does not apply to third-country nationals, who
are:

(b) (cid:145)third-country national(cid:146) shall mean any person who is not a
citizen of the Union within the meaning of Article 17 (1) of
the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Article 2

Additional technical specifications for the uniform format for
residence permits relating to the following shall be established
in compliance with the procedure referred to in Article 6 (2):

(a)

further
forgery, counterfeiting and falsification standards.

security requirements

including enhanced anti-

(b) conditions of storage to prevent theft;

(c) rules for the filling-in of the uniform residence permit;

(d) other conditions necessary for the implementation of the

uniform format.

Article 3

The specifications referred to in Article 2 shall be secret and
not be published. They shall be made available only to the
bodies designated by the Member States as responsible for
the printing and to persons duly authorised by a Member
State or the Commission.

Each Member State shall designate one body having responsi-
bility for printing the uniform residence permit.
shall
communicate the name of that body to the Commission and
the other Member States. The same body may be designated by
two or more Member States. Each Member State shall be
entitled to change its designated body.
inform the
Commission and the other Member States accordingly.

It shall

It

Article 4

The format, production and use of
permit shall comply with Directive 95/46/EC.

the uniform residence

(cid:151) members of the families of citizens of the Union exercising

their right to free movement,

(cid:151) nationals of Member States of the European Free Trade
Association party to the Agreement on the European
Economic Area and members of their families exercising
their
in accordance with this
right
agreement.

to free movement

Article 6

The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee

1.
instituted by Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1683/95.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory
procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 thereof.

The period provided for in Article 5 (6) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be one month.

Article 7

Member States shall
issue the uniform form for residence
permits set out in Article 1 no later than one year after the
adoption of the measures referred to in Article 2(a).

From that time, this Regulation shall replace in the Member
State concerned the Joint Action 97/11/JHA.

However, the validity of authorisations granted in documents
already issued shall not be affected by the introduction of the
uniform format for residence permits, unless the Member State
concerned decides otherwise.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

Without prejudice to these rules, persons
to whom the
residence permit is issued shall have the right to verify the
personal particulars contained in the residence permit and,

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States in accordance with the EC
Treaty.

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ANNEX

(a) Description

The residence permit will be produced either as a sticker, if possible in ID 2 format, or as a stand-alone document in
ID 1 or ID 2 format. It should be orientated to the specifications set out in the ICAO Document on machine-
readable visas (Document 9303 part 2) or on machine-readable travel documents (cards) (Document 9303 part 3). It
shall contain the following items:

1. The title of the document (Residence permit) shall appear in the language(s) of the issuing Member State (*).

2. The document number (cid:151) with special security features and preceded by an identification letter (cid:151).

3. 1. Name: surname and forename(s) in that order (*).

4. 2.

(cid:145)Valid until(cid:146): shall indicate the relevant expiry date, or, where appropriate, a word to indicate unlimited validity

5. 3.

(cid:145)Place/date of issue(cid:146): the place and date of issue of the residence permit (*).

6. 4.

(cid:145)Type of permit(cid:146): the specific type of residence permit issued to the third country national by the Member
State (*). For the member of the family of a EU citizen, who has not exercised the right of free movement it
should be mentioned (cid:145)family member(cid:146).

7. 5.-9.

(cid:145)Remarks(cid:146): Member States may enter details and indications for national use necessary with regard to their

rules on third country nationals including indications relating to any permission to work (*).

8.

(cid:145)Date/Signature/Authorisation(cid:146): (cid:151) if necessary (cid:151) the signature and seal of the issuing authority and/or the
holder.

9. The printed area shall contain the national emblem of the Member State to distinguish the residence permit and

provide a safeguard of its national origin.

10. Machine-readable area. The machine-readable area shall conform to ICAO guidelines.

11. The machine-readable area shall contain a printed text indicating exclusively the respective Member State. This

text may not affect the technical features of the machine-readable zone.

12. Metallized latent image effect including the country code of the Member State, if a sticker or a non-laminated

paper card is used.

13. OVD (kinegram or equivalent sign).

14. If the residence permit is produced as a stand-alone document, an identity photograph shall be affixed and

secured with OVD film (kinefilm or equivalent security laminate).

15. The following additional information boxes shall be provided on the back in the case of a stand-alone document:

(cid:151) date/place of birth (*),

(cid:151) nationality (*),

(cid:151) sex (*),

(cid:151) remarks (*).

The address of the permit holder may also be indicated (*).

(*) Where this information appears in an official language using non-Latin characters, it should be transliterated in Latin characters.

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(b) Colour, Printing procedure

The Member States establish the colour and the printing procedure in accordance with the uniform model set out in
this Annex and the technical specifications to be established in accordance with Article 2 of the Regulation.

(c) Material

The paper used for the residence permit giving personal particulars or other data shall meet
requirements:

the following

(cid:151) no optical brighteners,

(cid:151) duo-tone watermarks,

(cid:151) security reagents to guard against attempts at tampering by chemical erasure,

(cid:151) coloured fibres (partly visible, partly fluorescent under UV light),

(cid:151) UV-fluorescent planchettes.

If a card for inserting personal data is made entirely of plastic, it is not usually possible to incorporate the auth-
entication marks used in residence permit paper. The lack of marks in the materials shall be compensated for by
measures in respect of security printing, use of OVDs (OVD = optically variable device), or an issuing technique over
and above the following enhanced standards. The essential security features of the material should be of a uniform
pattern.

(d) Printing technique

The following printing techniques shall be available:

(cid:151) Background printing:

two-tone guilloches,

fluorescent rainbow colouring,

UV-fluorescent overprinting,

effective anti-counterfeiting and falsification motifs

reagent inks must be used on paper cards and stickers.

The lay-out of the front side of a card shall be distinguishable from the back side.

(cid:151) Form printing:

with integrated micro printing (unless already included in background printing).

(cid:151) Numbering:

Printed (where possible with a special style of figures or typeface and in UV-fluorescent ink), or,
integrated using the same technique as for the biographical data.
using fluorescent ink and a special style of figures is obligatory.

in cards
If a sticker is used, printed numbering

If stickers or non-laminated paper cards are used, intaglio printing with latent image effect, micro text and
optically variable ink shall also be employed. Additional optically variable security devices shall also be used on
cards made entirely of plastic, at least through the use of optically variable ink or equivalent measures. The
essential features of the security printing should be of a uniform pattern.

(e) Protection against copying

A harmonised optically variable (OVD) or equivalent device shall be used on the residence permit sticker or on the
front of the residence permit card and shall take the form of diffractive structures (kinegram or equivalent) incor-
porated into the hot-sealed laminate or as an OVD overlay, or, on stickers or a non-laminated paper card, as
metallised OVD (with intaglio overprinting).

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(f)

Issuing technique

To ensure that residence permit data are properly secured against attempts at counterfeiting and falsification,
personal data including the photograph, the holder’s signature and main issue data shall in future be integrated
into the basic material of the document. Conventional methods of attaching the photograph shall no longer be used.

The following issuing techniques may be used:

laser printing,

thermo-transfer,

ink-jet printing,

photographic,

laser engraving.

To ensure that biographical issue data are adequately protected against attempts at tampering, hot-seal lamination
with OVD security laminate shall be made compulsory where laser printing, thermo-transfer or photographic
techniques are used.

(g) Member States have the possibility as regards to point (c), (d) and (e) to introduce further security features in so far

as these are in conformity with decisions already taken about these matters.

The technical requirements and the security features shall correspond to the requirements and specifications set out
in Regulation (EC) 1683/95 laying down a uniform format for visas.

Residence Permit for third country nationals in card-form

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Residence Permit for third country nationals in sticker form