Parent of an EU Child: What Changes for Your Right of Residence

If you are a non-EU parent raising a child who is a citizen of the European Union, a major legal shift just made your right to remain with your family much more secure.

On June 4, 2026, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a landmark ruling in the Safi case (C-147/24). This decision significantly strengthens the protection of family unity and the best interests of EU children.

Here is a practical look at what this ruling means for families and how it protects your right of residence.

The Problem: The “Go to Another EU Country » Excuse

For years, many national immigration authorities used a common loophole to deny residence permits to non-EU parents. If the parent held—or had previously held—a residence permit in a different EU country, authorities would tell them to leave.

This is exactly what happened in the Safi case:

• A Moroccan mother was living in the Netherlands with her 10-year-old Dutch child, who was born and raised there.
• Because the mother previously held a residence permit in Spain, the Dutch authorities rejected her application to stay under Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
• They ordered her to leave the Netherlands and move to Spain, effectively forcing her to either leave her child behind or uproot him to a country he had never lived in.

The CJEU has now officially ruled that this practice is illegal.

The Solution: Your Child’s Best Interests Must Come First

The Court made it clear that national authorities cannot make cold, administrative decisions without looking at the human reality of the child. Under Articles 7 and 24 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, every child has the right to:

• A respected family life.
• Have their best interests treated as a primary consideration in all decisions affecting them.
• Maintain regular, direct contact with both parents.

What this means for you: Even if you have a legal right to live in another EU country (like Spain), the country where your child actually lives and is a citizen (like the Netherlands) cannot force you to leave if doing so would harm your child’s well-being.

How is “Dependency” Judged Now?

To qualify for this “derived right of residence,” there must be a relationship of dependency between you and your child. The Court highlighted several practical criteria that authorities must now assess:

• The Co-parenting Presumption: If you live with your child and both parents share daily legal, financial, and emotional care, the law now presumes a relationship of dependency exists.
• The “Other Parent” Myth: Authorities can no longer argue that because the other parent is an EU citizen, they can just raise the child alone. The child has a right to be raised by both parents.
• Practical Well-being: The child’s age, emotional development, and the language they speak must be taken into account.

In the Safi case, the 10-year-old child did not speak Spanish and was enrolled in specialized education in the Netherlands due to speech and language difficulties. The Court ruled that forcing this child to move to Spain was entirely contrary to his best interests. Consequently, the mother had to be granted a right of residence in the Netherlands.

Key Takeaway for Families

If you are facing a threat of deportation or a refusal of residency, this ruling is a powerful shield.

National immigration offices can no longer use a theoretical residence permit in another EU member state as an excuse to split up your family or uproot your child. Your child’s emotional stability, education, and daily relationship with you are now firmly protected by EU law.