Family members include:
- a spouse, including a spouse of the same sex as clarified by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in its Coman judgment C-673/16;
- a registered partner, if the applicable legislation treats registered partnerships as equivalent to marriage;
direct descendants who are under the age of 21 or are dependants, and those of the spouse or registered partner; - dependent direct relatives in the ascending line, as well as those of the spouse or registered partner.
General EES data retention rules (see section on data retention) and the automated calculator will not apply to you if you meet the following conditions:
- You are a family member of a European Union citizen and Directive 2004/38/EC applies to you, or a family member of a national of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland who enjoys the right of free movement equivalent to that of EU citizens.
Important: This only concerns family members of citizens of the forementioned countries travelling to or residing in a country other than that of their nationality.
2. You do not hold a residence card pursuant to Directive 2004/38/EC or a residence permit pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002.
Example 1
You are an American citizen, living in New York City. You are 17 years old and the son of a German national. You want to visit your father, who does not live in Germany, but in Spain.
In this case, you will be registered in the EES as a family member. Reduced data retention rules will apply to you, while the automated calculator will not.
Example 2
You are an American citizen, living in New York City. You are married to a French national, and you want to visit them in France, where they live.
In this case, you will be registered in the EES as a regular traveller and not as a family member. The general data retention rules and automated calculator will apply to you.