## Facts

- A Chinese national mother traveled to Northern Ireland to give birth so her child would acquire Irish nationality under Irish law then in force.
- The child was born in Belfast in 2000, registered as an Irish citizen, and therefore held EU citizenship.
- The mother and child moved to Wales and applied for long-term residence permits in the United Kingdom; the applications were refused.
- The child had comprehensive sickness insurance and the mother had sufficient resources to support the child so the child would not become a burden on the UK’s public finances.
- The UK argued that EU residence rights should not apply where nationality was intentionally obtained to secure immigration benefits and that the child did not personally possess the required resources.
- A UK appellate tribunal referred questions on EU free-movement and residence provisions to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling.

## Issues

1. Whether an EU citizen minor has a right to reside in another Member State when the minor has sickness insurance and sufficient resources supplied by a third-country national parent to avoid burdening the host state.
2. Whether EU law requires granting a residence right to the minor’s third-country national primary carer so the child can effectively exercise the child’s residence right.
3. Whether the host state may deny residence rights because the parent deliberately arranged circumstances for the child to acquire another Member State’s nationality.

## Decision

- The court held that the child, as an EU citizen covered by sickness insurance and supported by sufficient resources, had a right to reside in the United Kingdom for an indefinite period under the applicable EU provisions.
- The court held that the child’s primary carer (the mother) had a derivative right to reside with the child in the host state to ensure the child’s residence right was effective.
- The court rejected denial of EU residence rights based solely on the parent’s intention to secure the child’s Member State nationality to obtain residence advantages.
- The court ruled that the “sufficient resources” condition could be satisfied by resources provided by a family member and need not be held personally by the minor.
- The matter was returned to national authorities to apply the ruling.

## Legal Principles

- EU citizenship entails a directly enforceable right to move and reside in Member States, subject to conditions set by secondary EU measures.
- For economically inactive EU citizens, a host state may condition residence on sickness insurance and sufficient resources to prevent reliance on the host state’s public finances.
- The origin of the resources is not dispositive; requiring the EU citizen minor to personally own the funds adds an unnecessary and disproportionate restriction on free-movement rights.
- A third-country national parent who is the primary carer may obtain a derivative residence right when refusal would deprive the EU citizen child’s residence right of practical effect.
- A host state may not refuse to recognize EU residence consequences flowing from a validly conferred Member State nationality merely because the family purposefully sought that nationality.

## Conclusion

The court recognized an EU citizen infant’s right to reside in a host Member State where sickness insurance and sufficient resources are available, even if the resources come from a third-country national parent, and required a derivative residence right for the primary carer to make the child’s EU residence right effective, without allowing denial based on intentional acquisition of the child’s Member State nationality.


Zhu & Chen v. Sec’y of State for the Home Dep’t, Case C-200/02 (C.J. Oct. 19, 2004)