Council Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 of 13 June 2002 laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals

Article 1

• (a) ‘residence permit’ 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:
• (i) visas;
• (ii) permits issued pending examination of a request for asylum, an application for a residence permit or an application for its extension;
• (iia) permits issued in exceptional circumstances with a view to an extension of the authorised stay with a maximum duration of one month;
• (iii) authorisations issued for a stay of a duration not exceeding six months by Member States not applying the provisions of Article 21 of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders ([^E0001]);

• (b) ‘third-country national’ shall mean any person who is not a citizen of the Union within the meaning of Article 17(1) of the Treaty.

Article 2

• (a) additional security features and requirements including enhanced anti-forgery, counterfeiting and falsification standards;

• (b) technical processes and rules for the filling in of the uniform residence permit;

• (c) other rules to be observed for the filling in of the uniform residence permit;

• (d) technical specifications for the storage medium of the biometric features and the security thereof, including 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.

Article 3

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referred to in Article 7(2), it may be decided that the specifications referred to in Article 2 shall be secret and not be published.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.

Each Member State shall designate one body having responsibility for printing the uniform residence permit. It 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. It shall inform the Commission and the other Member States accordingly.

Article 4

Without prejudice to data protection rules, persons to whom the residence permit is issued shall have the right to verify the personal particulars contained in the residence permit and, where appropriate, to have them corrected or deleted.

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 comparable features when the residence permit is required to be produced by national legislation.

Article 4a

The uniform format for residence permits shall include a storage medium containing the facial image and two fingerprint images of the holder, both in interoperable 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 biometric identifiers comprising the facial image and two 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 laid down in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The following biometric identifiers shall be taken:

• — a photograph provided by the applicant or taken at the time of application and,

• — two fingerprints taken flat and digitally captured.

The technical specifications for the capture of biometric identifiers shall be set out in accordance with the procedure described in Article 7(2) and with ICAO standards and the technical specifications for passports 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 ([^E0002]).

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.

Article 5

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

• — members of the families of citizens of the Union exercising their right to free movement,

• — 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 right to free movement in accordance with that Agreement,

• — nationals of third countries who are exempt from the requirement to hold a visa and who are authorised to stay in a Member State for a period of less than three months.

Article 5a

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.

Article 6

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 7(2).

Article 7

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at two months.

Article 8

This Regulation shall not affect the powers of the Member States regarding recognition of States and territorial entities and passports, identity documents and travel documents issued by their authorities.

Article 9

Member States shall issue the uniform format for residence permits defined in Article 1 no later than one year after the adoption of the additional security features and requirements referred to in Article 2(1)(a).

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

The storage of the facial 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).

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

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.

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

Article 10

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

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.

ANNEX

FRONT AND REVERSE OF THE CARD

Image omitted; see official source

Image omitted; see official source

(a) Description

The residence permit, including biometrics, shall be produced as a stand-alone document in ID — 1 format. It shall draw on the specifications set out in the ICAO document on machine-readable travel documents (Document 9303, seventh edition, 2015). It shall contain the following ([^E0003]):

Front of the card:

• 1. The three-letter country code of the issuing Member State as set out in ICAO Document 9303 on machine-readable travel documents, integrated into the background printing.

• 1. The ICAO symbol for a machine-readable travel document with a contactless microchip (e-MRTD symbol), in optically variable colouring. Depending on the angle of view, it shall appear in different colours.

• 3.1. The title of the document (‘Residence Permit’) shall appear in the language(s) of the issuing Member State.

• 3.2. Repetition of the document title referred to in field 3.1, in at least one other (maximum two) official languages of the institutions of the Union, in order to facilitate the recognition of the card as a residence permit for third-country nationals.

• 4.1. The document number.

• 4.2. Repetition of the document number (with special security features).

• 1. The card access number (CAN).

The headings of entries 6 to 12 shall appear in the issuing Member State's language(s). The issuing Member State may add another official language of the institutions of the Union on the same line, up to a total of no more than two languages.

• 1. Name: surname(s) and forename(s), in that order ([^E0004]).

• 1. Sex.

• 1. Nationality.

• 1. Date of birth.

• 1. Type of permit: the specific type of residence permit issued by the Member State to the third-country national. 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 ([^E0005]), Member States may enter ‘beneficiary under Article 3(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC’.

• 1. The expiry date of the document ([^E0006]).

• 1. Remarks: Member States may enter details and observations for national use as required in the light of their national provisions on third-country nationals, including observations relating to any permission to work or unlimited validity of the permission to stay ([^E0007]).

• 1. An identity photograph shall be securely integrated into the card body and secured by a diffractive optically variable image device (DOVID).

• 1. Signature of the holder.

• 1. DOVID for portrait protection.

Reverse of the card:

• 1. Remarks: Member States may enter details and observations for national use as required in the light of their national provisions on third-country nationals, including observations relating to any permission to work ([^E0008]), followed by two mandatory entries:
• 16.1. Date of issue, place of issue/issuing authority: The date and place of issue of the residence permit. Where appropriate, the place of issue may be substituted with a reference to the issuing authority.
• 16.2. Place of birth. Entries 16.1 and 16.2 may be followed by optional entries ([^E0009]) such as ‘Address of the holder’.
• 16.3. Optional field for information related to the production of the card, such as name of the producer, version number, etc.

• 1. Machine-readable zone. The machine-readable zone shall conform to the relevant ICAO guidelines set out in ICAO Document 9303 on machine-readable travel documents.

• 1. The printed area shall contain the national emblem of the Member State to distinguish the residence permit and provide certainty as to its national origin.

• 1. The machine-readable zone shall contain printed text in the background printing indicating the issuing Member State. This text shall not affect the technical features of the machine-readable zone.

Visible national security features (without prejudice to the technical specifications established under Article 2(1)(f) of this Regulation):

• 1. An RF chip shall be used as a storage medium in accordance with Article 4a of this Regulation. Member States may also incorporate in the residence permit a dual interface or a separate contact chip for national use. Such contact chips shall be placed on the reverse of the card, comply with ISO standards and in no way interfere with the RF chip.

• 1. Optional transparent window.

• 1. Optional transparent border.

(b) Colour, printing process

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

(c) Material

The card shall be made entirely of polycarbonate or equivalent synthetic polymer (lasting for at least 10 years).

(d) Printing techniques

The following printing techniques shall be employed:

• — highly secure background offset printing,

• — UV-fluorescent printing,

• — rainbow printing.

The security design of the front of the card shall be distinguishable from the back of the card.

(e) Numbering

The document number shall appear in more than one position on the document (excluding the machine-readable zone).

(f) Protection against copying

An upgraded DOVID providing a quality of identification and a level of security not less than the device used in the current uniform format for visas shall be used on the front of the residence permit with advanced design and features, including an enhanced diffractive element for advanced machine verification.

(g) Personalisation technique

To ensure that residence permit data are properly secured against counterfeiting and falsification attempts, biographical data including the photograph, the holder's signature and the other main data shall be integrated into the basic material of the document. This personalisation shall be done using laser engraving technology or other equivalent secure technology.

• (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 this Regulation, that they comply with the harmonised appearance of the models above and that the efficiency of the uniform security features is not diminished.

[^E0001]: OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 19.

[^E0002]: OJ L 385, 29.12.2004, p. 1.

[^E0003]: The headings to be printed are specified in the technical specifications to be adopted under Article 6 of this Regulation.

[^E0004]: A single field is provided for the surnames and forenames. The surnames shall be given in upper case; the forenames in lower case but with upper case for the first letter. No separators between surnames and forenames are allowed. However, the character ‘,’ is allowed as a separator between first and second surnames or forenames (example: TOLEDO, BURGOS Ana, Maria). If it is necessary, first and second surnames can be combined in the same line, as well as surnames and forenames, in order to save space.

[^E0005]: 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 amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC (OJ L 158, 30.4.2004, p. 77).

[^E0006]: The entry shall only be made in a date format (dd/mm/yyyy) and not in words such as ‘temporary’ or ‘unlimited’ as the expiry date relates to the physical document and not to the right of residence.

[^E0007]: Additional remarks can also be entered in field 16 (‘Remarks’) on the reverse of the card.

[^E0008]: All the space available on the reverse of the card (except for the machine-readable zone) shall be reserved for the ‘Remarks’ field. It will contain the actual remarks, followed by mandatory fields (date of issue, place of issue/issuing authority, place of birth), and followed by the optional fields each Member State needs.

[^E0009]: Optional entries must be preceded by sub-headings.