European Union law

Each EU member state decides who has the nationality of that country. Any national of an EU member state is an EU citizen.

EU citizens can enter other member states for a period of three months. All they have to do is show their passport or national identity card. After three months, they must 'exercise a right of residence'. In most cases, this means they must be in the other country as an employee, self-employed person, student and/or self-sufficient person.

Since 2004, when a country joins the EU, its nationals are usually subject to temporary work restrictions in the UK. This means that, unlike other EU citizens, they often have to apply for permission from the Home Office before they can start work.

They do not need Home Office permission before they can start study or self-employment.

All EU citizens are also European Economic Area (EEA) nationals.

Although the UK demonstrated its intention to leave the EU on 29 March 2017 by triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, it remains a full member of the EU until its likely exit on 29 March 2019.