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EU court rules on spouses of non-EU citizens in UK

BRUSSELS, Nov 14 (KUNA) -- The European Union's top court ruled Tuesday that an EU citizen who becomes a British citizen does not lose the right to have a spouse from a non-EU country live with them in the UK.
"A non-EU national may benefit from a right of residence in the Member State in which his EU citizen family member resided before acquiring the nationality of that Member State in addition to her nationality of origin," said the European Court of Justice in a press release in Luxembourg.
It noted that Mr. Toufik Lounes, an Algerian national, entered the UK in 2010 on a six-month visitor visa and then overstayed illegally. Ms Ormazabal, a Spanish national, moved to the UK as a student in 1996. She has been working there full time since 2004 and resides there. She became a naturalised British citizen in 2009 and also retained her Spanish nationality.
In 2014, Lounes and Ormazabal married. Following their marriage, Lounes applied for the issue of a residence card as a family member of an EEA (European Economic Area) national.
By letter of 22 May 2014, the UK Secretary of State for the Home Department informed Lounes that his application had been refused.
Lounes brought a claim before the High Court of Justice of England and Wales against the decision of 22 May 2014.
The UK High Court had doubts as to the compatibility of that decision and the UK legislation with EU law and referred a question on that issue to the EU Court of Justice, said the press release. (end) nk.sd