Case of Yusuf (EEA – ceasing to be a jobseeker, effect) (2015) UKUT 433 (IAC)
Headnote – An individual who has acquired the status of worker for the purposes of article 45 (ex Article 3 TFEU) ( and thus 4(1) (a) of the EEA Regulations 2006) only through being a jobseeker, who is a qualified person under regulation 6(1) EEA Regs 2006 does not retain the status of worker on ceasing to be a jobseeker. In such a scenario, the purpose in interpreting article 45 widely- to give effect to the right to move to another member state to seek employment – is absent.
The term ‘worker’ within article 45 covers, to a greater or lesser extent, not only actual workers but also
(1) those entering a state for the first time to seek employment (‘first time’ job seekers)
(2) those who have had a job and are again seeking work ‘(second time’ job seekers)
(3) vocational or occupational trainees; the involuntarily unemployed and sick
(4) injured and retired workers
(5) women who becuase of the physical constraints of the late stages of pregnancy and the aftermath of childbirth, give up work or jobseeking, provided they return to find work or find another job within a reasonable period after the birth of the child.
In order to reside lawfully in the UK after the first three months with no conditions on their stay in the UK, an EEA national must fall to be treated as a ‘qualified person’, one of the ways can be as a worker, which is defined above.
This case basically says that a jobseeker can be a qualified person, but that this requires providing evidence that you are seeking employment and have a genuine chance of being engaged. It also says that the amount of time given to jobseekers to find work is not fixed, although member states may require then to leave their territory after a reasonable period unless the person concerned produces evidence that he or she is continuing to seek employment and they have a genuine chance of being engaged.
EEA Home Office Policy Guidance also expands on this further.
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