Council Regulation (EC) No 380/2008 of 18 April 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals
Date: 2008-04-18
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: admission of aliens, biometrics, data protection, foreign national, harmonisation of standards, residence permit, technical specification

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Official Journal of the European Union

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(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory)

I

REGULATIONS

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 380/2008

of 18 April 2008

amending Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 laying down a uniform format for residence permits for
third-country nationals

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

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

that

is essential

the uniform format

for residence
It
the necessary information
permits should contain all
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.

The integration of biometric identifiers is an important
step towards the use of new elements, which establish a
more reliable link between the holder and the residence
permit as an important contribution to ensuring that it is
protected against fraudulent use. The specifications set
in the International Civil Aviation Organisation
out
(ICAO) document No 9303 Part 3 on Size 1 and 2
machine readable official documents should be taken
into account.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Furthermore, the vast majority of Member States apply
the principle of one person one document, which
enhances security even further. It should be examined
whether this principle should be rendered mandatory.

At its meeting in Thessaloniki on 19 and 20 June 2003,
the European Council stressed that a coherent approach
was needed in the EU on biometric identifiers or
biometric data, which would result
in harmonised
solutions for documents for third country nationals, EU
citizens’ passports and information systems.

signature for access

The use of new technologies such as e-government and
should be
digital
facilitated by giving Member States the possibility to
use the storage medium used for the incorporation of
biometric identifiers or an additional storage medium for
that purpose in residence permits.

to e-services

this Regulation is solely to set

The purpose of
the
security features and biometric identifiers to be used by
the Member States in a uniform format of residence
permit for third-country nationals.

This Regulation only lays down specifications that are
not secret; these specifications need to be supplemented
by further specifications which may remain secret
in
order to prevent counterfeiting and falsifications and
which may not include personal data or references to
such data. Powers to adopt such supplementary specifi-
cations should be conferred on the Commission, which
should 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).

(1) Opinion of 20 June 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

lation (EC) No 1791/2006 (OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 164, 14.7.1995, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

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the uniform format

(9) With regard to the personal data to be processed in the
context of
for residence permits,
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 (1) applies. It
must be ensured that no further information is stored
residence permits unless
for
on the uniform format
provided
(EC) No
Council
for
1030/2002 (2),
its Annex or unless it is mentioned in
the relevant travel document.

Regulation

in

(10)

(11)

In accordance with the principle of proportionality, it is
necessary and appropriate for the achievement of the
basic objective of
introducing biometric identifiers in
interoperable formats to lay down rules for all Member
States
implementing the Schengen Convention. This
is necessary in
Regulation does not go beyond what
order to achieve the objectives pursued in accordance
with the third paragraph of Article 5 of the Treaty.

establishing

In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Protocol on
the position of Denmark, annexed to the Treaty on
European Union and the Treaty
the
European Community, Denmark does not take part in
the adoption of this Regulation, and is therefore not
bound by it or subject to its application. Given that
this Regulation builds upon the Schengen acquis under
the provisions of Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty
Community, Denmark
establishing
in accordance with Article 5 of that Protocol,
should,
decide within a period of
the
six months
after
adoption of this Regulation, whether it will
implement
it in its national law.

European

the

(12) As

a

of

of

Iceland

regards

provisions

development

and Norway,

this Regulation
constitutes
the
Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement
concluded by the Council of the European Union and
the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway
concerning the association of those two States with the
the
implementation, application and development of
Schengen acquis (3) which fall within the area referred
to in Article 1, point C of Council Decision
1999/437/EC (4) on certain arrangements for the appli-
cation of that Agreement.

(14)

In accordance with Article 3 of the Protocol on the
position of the United Kingdom and Ireland annexed
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty
establishing the European Community,
Ireland gave
notice, by letter of 19 December 2003, of its wish to
take part
this
Regulation.

in the adoption and application of

(15) As regards Switzerland,

this Regulation constitutes a
development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis
the Agreement signed by the
within the meaning of
European Union,
the European Community and the
Swiss Confederation on the latter's association with the
the
implementation, application and development of
Schengen acquis which fall within the area referred to
in Article 1, point C of Decision 1999/437/EC read in
conjunction with Article 4(1) of Council Decision
2004/860/EC (5),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 is hereby amended as follows:

Article 1

1. Article 1 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

in paragraph 1, the second sentence shall be replaced by
the following:

‘Residence permits to third-country nationals shall be
ID 2
issued as stand-alone documents in ID 1 or
format.’;

(b) paragraph 2(a) shall be amended as follows:

(i) point (ii) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(ii) permits issued pending examination of a request
for asylum, an application for a residence permit
or an application for its extension;’;

(13)

In accordance with Article 3 of
the Protocol on the
position of the United Kingdom and Ireland annexed
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty
establishing the European Community,
the United
Kingdom gave notice, by letter of 29 December 2003,
of its wish to take part in the adoption and application
of this Regulation.

(1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31. Directive as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1882/2003 (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 157, 15.6.2002, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 36.
(4) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31.

(ii) the following point shall be inserted:

‘(iia) permits issued in exceptional circumstances with
a view to an extension of the authorised stay
with a maximum duration of one month;’;

(5) Council Decision 2004/860/EC of 25 October 2004 on the signing,
on behalf of the European Community, and on the provisional
application of certain provisions of
the Agreement between the
European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confed-
eration, concerning the Swiss Confederation's association with the
implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis
(OJ L 370, 17.12.2004, p. 78).

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2. the following points shall be added to Article 2(1):

‘(d) technical specifications for the storage medium of the
including

biometric features and the security thereof,
prevention of unauthorised access;

(e) requirements for the quality of and common standards

for the facial image and the fingerprint images;

(f) an exhaustive list of additional national security features
which could be added by Member States in accordance
with point (h) of the Annex.’;

3.

in Article 3, the first paragraph shall be replaced by the
following:

‘In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 7(2),
it may be decided that
the specifications referred to in
Article 2 shall be secret and not be published. In that case
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.’;

images of

the holder, both in interoperable
fingerprint
formats. The data shall be secured and the storage medium
shall be of sufficient capacity and capability to guarantee the
integrity, authenticity and confidentiality of the data.

Article 4b

For the purposes of this Regulation, Member States shall take
image and two
biometric identifiers comprising the facial
fingerprints from third-country nationals.

The procedure shall be determined in accordance with the
national practice of the Member State concerned and with
the safeguards
the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
and in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child.

laid down in the Convention for

The following biometric identifiers shall be taken:

— a photograph provided by the applicant or taken at the

time of application and,

4.

in Article 4, the second paragraph shall be replaced by the
following:

— two fingerprints taken flat and digitally captured.

‘No information in machine-readable form shall be included
on the resident permit or on the storage medium of the
residence permit referred to in Article 4a, unless provided
for in this Regulation, or its Annex or unless it is mentioned
in the related travel document by the issuing State in
accordance with its national
legislation. Member States
may also store data for e-services such as e-government
and e-business as well as additional provisions relating to
the residence permit on a chip referred to in point 16 of
the Annex. However, all national data must be logically
separated from the biometric data referred to in Article 4a.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the biometric features in
residence permits shall only be used for verifying:

(a)

the authenticity of the document;

(b) the identity of the holder by means of directly available
is

features when the
comparable
required to be produced by national legislation.’;

residence permit

set out

shall be

The technical specifications for the capture of biometric
in accordance with the
identifiers
and with ICAO
procedure described in Article 7(2)
for passports
standards and the technical
issued by Member States to their nationals pursuant
to
Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004 of 13 December
2004 on standards for security features and biometrics in
passports and travel documents issued by Member States (*).

specifications

The capture of fingerprints is compulsory as of six years of
age.

Persons for whom fingerprinting is physically impossible
shall be exempt from the requirement to give fingerprints.

___________
(*) OJ L 385, 29.12.2004, p. 1.’;

6. the following Article shall be inserted:

5. the following Articles shall be inserted:

‘Article 5a

‘Article 4a

The uniform format for residence permits shall
storage medium containing the facial

include a
image and two

Where Member States use the uniform format for purposes
other than those covered by this Regulation, appropriate
measures must be taken to ensure that confusion with the
residence permit referred to in Article 1 is not possible and
the purpose is clearly indicated on the card.’;

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7.

in Article 9, the third paragraph shall be replaced by the
following:

the facial

‘The storage of
image as primary biometric
identifier shall be implemented at the latest two years, and
the storage of the two fingerprint images at the latest three
years, after the adoption of the respective technical measures
provided for in Article 2(1)(d) and (e).

For a transitional period of two years after the adoption of
the technical specifications for the facial image referred to in
the third paragraph of this Article, the residence permit may
continue to be issued in sticker form.’;

8. the Annex shall be amended in accordance with Annex I to

this Regulation.

However, the validity of residence permits already issued
shall not be affected by the implementation of this Regu-
lation, unless the Member State concerned decides otherwise.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Luxembourg, 18 April 2008.

For the Council
The President

D. MATE

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The Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 shall be amended as follows:

ANNEX I

1. Point (a) shall be amended as follows:

1. the first paragraph shall be replaced by the following;

‘The residence permit including biometrics will be produced as a stand-alone document in ID 1 or ID 2 format. It
will draw on the specifications set out in the ICAO documents on machine-readable visas (document 9303, part 2)
or on machine-readable travel documents (cards) (document 9303, part 3). The residence permit in sticker form
may only be issued for two years after the adoption of the technical specifications referred to in the third paragraph
of Article 9. It will contain the following entries:’;

2.

in entry 2, the last part of the sentence ‘and preceded by an identification letter’ shall be deleted;

3. the second sentence of entry 6.4 shall read as follows:

‘The residence permit of a member of the family of a citizen of the European Union who has not exercised the
right of free movement must contain the entry “family member”. In the case of beneficiaries under Article 3(2) of
Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of
the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (*),
Member States may enter “beneficiary under Article 3(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC”.

___________
(*) OJ L 158, 30.4.2004, p. 77. Corrected version in OJ L 229, 29.6.2004, p. 35.’;

4. the following entry shall be inserted:

‘8.a The document title referred to in number 1 may also be repeated along the bottom of the card in a further
two languages. The headings referred to in numbers 2 to 8 should be indicated in the issuing Member State's
language(s). The issuing Member State may add another official language of the European Union institutions,
either in the same line or in the line below, with a total of no more than two languages.’;

5. entry 11 shall read as follows:

‘11. The machine-readable area will contain a printed text in the background printing indicating the issuing

Member State. This text may not affect the technical features of the machine-readable area.’;

6. the following entries shall be added:

‘16. A RF chip shall be used as a storage medium in accordance with Article 4a. Member States may store data on
this chip or incorporate in the residence permit a dual interface or a separate contact chip for national use
which shall be placed at the back of the card complying with ISO standards and shall in no way interfere with
the RF chip.

17. ICAO symbol for a machine readable travel document with contactless microchip (e-MRTD).’

2. The following point shall be added:

‘(h) Member States may also add additional national security features, provided that these are included in the list
established under Article 2(1)(f) of
they comply with the harmonised
this Regulation and provided that
appearance of the following models and that the efficiency of the uniform security features is not diminished.’

3. The following models shall be inserted:

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‘Residence permit for third-country nationals including biometrics in ID 1 format

Residence permit for third-country nationals including biometrics in ID 2 format

’.

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ANNEX II

Statement to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union when the Regulation is published:

‘Ad Article 1(1)(b):

The Council invites the Commission to examine the most appropriate and proportionate way of introducing harmonised
security features of the residence permits referred to in Article 1(2)(a)(ii) and (ii a).’