Sufficient resources for non - economically active persons
Hi,
I am an US citizen and my wife is a Norwegian citizen. We have lived together and worked in Copenhagen for two years, and we have used the EU rules for family reunification here. We want to move to Malmö, but continue working in Denmark. We are unsure of how to meet the income requirements for using the EU rules as it wasn't necessary for us in DK since my wife already had the right to permanent residency in DK. My wife makes significantly less money than I do (ca. 19.000 SEK/month for her vs. 55.000 SEK/month for me). We don't know if her income is enough to meet possible requirements as a commuter after rent and transportation. Can we use her/our savings to fulfil this requirement? She has around 120.000 saved, and I have around 100.000 SEK saved. Or can we list me as her economic supporter since we are married, if we add a signed letter detailing my income and that she is my only dependent? For reference, the rent on the apartment we have been offered in Malmö is about 10.500 SEK/month and transportation to Copenhagen is 2250 SEK/month.
To be sure, we have indeed called Migrationsverket, but they couldn't really comment since it wasn't a concrete case (we haven't moved or applied yet), but the woman we spoke with said it shouldn't be an issue. We would like more confirmation before we uproot our lives in Denmark, though.
Thank you!
Lawline svarar
Hello and thank you for contacting Lawline with your question,
As confirmed by Migrationsverket you moving to Malmö would not be an issue.
All EU citizens have a right to move and reside within the European Union. Norway is not part of the EU but since they are a part of the European Economic Area (EEA) basically the same rights apply to Norwegian citizens.
The EU rules of free movement are incorporated into Swedish law through utlänningslagen.
Move to Sweden as a citizen of the EEA
A citizen of the EEA and their family can have the right of residence in Sweden without having a residence permit (3 a kap. 1 § utlänningslagen). After three months of residing in Sweden EEA citizens need to fulfil the conditions set up for obtaining right of residence. Since your wife intends to continue her work in Copenhagen, she will be considered a non – economically active person in Sweden. For non- economically active persons the conditions for right of residence are that she has sufficient resources to support herself and her family members. It is also required that she have a covering health insurance covering both her and her family members and that is valid in Sweden (3 a kap. 3 § 4 p. utlänningslagen).
Sufficient resources
The reason why a person that not economically active in the state in which the wish to reside must possess sufficient resources is basically to prevent welfare – tourism. EU states are however, not allowed to set a fixed amount of money that is considered to be sufficient resources. In Sweden the assessment if a person possessed sufficient resources often has its starting point in whether the person have assets above the national standards set out for receiving income support (2 kap. 1 § Socialtjänstförordning).
Personal circumstances in each concrete case must be considered. Both monthly salaries and savings are considered in the assessment. The EU courts have considered that the origin of the resources is unimportant. Thus, if a family member has the assets to sustain the EEA member those assets will be considered as well (Zhu and Chen case [2004] C-200/02).
Regarding your collective incomes and assets fulfilling the requirement for sufficient resources won´t be an issue.
Health insurance
People moving from one Nordic country to another are normally not required to prove that this requirement is fulfilled according to a cooperation within the Nordic countries called the Nordic convention.
Move to Sweden as a family member of a citizen of the EEA
If a citizen of the EEA fulfils the requirements for right of residence family members of the citizen have the right of residence as well (3 a kap. 4 § utlänningslagen). Since you are married to an EEA citizen you are considered family member (3 a kap. 2 § utlänningslagen).
I hope that could answer your question. If my answer is unclear feel free to contact me on my.ohman@lawline.se.
Best regards,
