Are there any difference in between "Resident Permit" and "Residency"? [closed]

Question

First of all from a linguistic view: "permit" means having right to do something and residency means current place of your stay.

Generally, when we are relocating to another country (Lets say country A), we are getting "Resident Permit" from immigration office of Country A. By using that document we are entering Country A and then going to a local authority to register ourselves as residents.

So, I assume having resident permit does not mean that your residency changed until you register to the local authorities.

This relates to following practical situation:

My family and I living in Finland under EU Blue Card. I got a job offer from Germany and planning to apply for German EU Blue Card. But my new employer wants me to relocate to Germany 2 months later since their new office is not ready and the first two months are for on-boarding training.

So I wonder when we apply for a new Blue card, do we lose our rights gained from our current EU Blue cards. I mean like health insurances, kindergarden services etc.

I know that Finnish EU Blue Card provides an extra 3 months when you resign your job to let you find a new job.

Answer 1

Residence or residency is not a unified concept. A single person can be a resident of different places for different purposes. Two jurisdictions can even consider the same person to be a resident for the same purpose, because of different rules.

In general terms, a residence permit authorizes its bearer to reside somewhere, or, more literally, it permits the person to do so. Residence permits are usually issued by countries. Whether a country issuing a residence permit automatically treats the person as a resident for any purpose depends on that country's laws.

Many countries require people living in the country to register with the municipality in which they reside. Doing so will frequently cause the person to be deemed a resident of that municipality for most purposes, but the details depend on national law.

In the cases I'm familiar with, it's necessary for someone who leaves a country with registration of residents to inform the registry of that. This may be called deregistration. Registering with a municipality in a new country generally will not lead to automatic deregistration in another country, but there could be exceptions.

Generally, if you have applied for or even received a residence permit somewhere else, you do not lose your prior residency until you actually move and, if applicable, deregister.

Answer 2

Things are not as neatly organised as you seem to assume. Countries can have several disconnected notions of residence. For example, in France, it's possible to be considered a resident for tax purposes without being a resident for citizenship purposes (the time spent in France does not count towards the minimal required stay before applying for naturalisation) because the requirements for the latter are tighter. Similarly, some EU countries (France, UK) do not have a generic registration system for all inhabitants. Continuing with the French tax residence example: it is a material fact and starts on the first day of presence with an eye towards a longer stay (i.e. not when you go over some threshold or not when you inform the tax office or anything like that but you actually set foot in the country).

In the EU, “residence permit“ is a loose English translation for a whole category of documents. In practice, it means most (but not all) documents allowing you to stay in an EU member state for longer than 3/6 months. Different countries issue slightly different documents, sometimes with a distinction between short-term/conditional residence and long-term residence. Some countries only issue residence “permit“ within the country, after a period of initial stay (i.e. you can only ever enter with a visa, not directly with a permit).

Finally, there is no systematic link between residence in one country and residence in another one. Depending on your exact status, many thing can cause you to lose your right to reside in country A, including losing your job or physically leaving the country for an extended period of time but applying or being granted a permit or visa to reside in another country is (typically) not one of them. As I implied in my comment to your earlier question, you really have to consider your situation in each country separately, the question you are asking is not the right one.