Member States are required to deal with third-country nationals who no longer or never fulfilled the conditions of stay, who were denied a residence permit, or who have exhausted all legal options against the enforcement of their return decision. The Return Directive (2008/115/EC)1 sets the obligation for Member States to issue a return decision for third-country nationals once it has been established that they are not eligible for legal stay. In practice, however, a certain share of third-country nationals issued with a return decision neither enjoy a legal stay nor are able to return. These situations may result in protracted or long-term situations of illegal stay and legal uncertainty, as well as deplorable living conditions.
This inform summarises the results of the EMN study of the same title which aims to close existing research gaps regarding Member States’ approaches to long-term irregularly staying migrants, in light of rapid changes in policies and practices and the lack of a recent, comprehensive EU-overview for this group.
See also:
How do Member States and Norway respond to long term irregularly staying migrants?: EMN Flash #19
