Directive (EU) 2016/801 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 26 U.K. Researchers' family members

1. For the purpose of allowing researchers' family members to join the researcher in the first Member State or, in the case of long-term mobility, in the second Member States, Member States shall apply the provisions of Directive 2003/86/EC with the derogations laid down in this Article.

2. By way of derogation from Article 3(1) and Article 8 of Directive 2003/86/EC, the granting of a residence permit to family members shall not be made dependent on the requirement of the researcher having reasonable prospects of obtaining the right of permanent residence and having a minimum period of residence.

3. By way of derogation from the last subparagraph of Article 4(1) and Article 7(2) of Directive 2003/86/EC, the integration conditions and measures referred to therein may only be applied after the persons concerned have been granted a residence permit.

4. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Directive 2003/86/EC, residence permits for family members shall be granted by a Member State, if the conditions for family reunification are fulfilled, within 90 days from the date on which the complete application was submitted. The competent authority of the Member State concerned shall process the application for the family members at the same time as the application for admission or for long-term mobility of the researcher, in case where the application for the family members is submitted at the same time. The residence permit for family members shall be granted only if the researcher is issued an authorisation under Article 17.

5. By way of derogation from Article 13(2) and (3) of Directive 2003/86/EC, the duration of validity of the residence permit of family members shall end, as a general rule, on the date of expiry of the authorisation of the researcher. This shall include, where applicable, authorisations issued to the researcher for the purpose of job-searching or entrepreneurship in accordance with Article 25. Member States may require the period of validity of the travel documents of family members to cover at least the duration of the planned stay.

6. By way of derogation from the second sentence of Article 14(2) of Directive 2003/86/EC, the first Member State or, in the case of long-term mobility, the second Member States shall not apply any time limit in respect of access for family members to the labour market, except in exceptional circumstances such as particularly high levels of unemployment.