State Pension Support in UK Law

It seems to me plain that UK law makes a distinction between a right to reside, which is conferred only on British citizens, certain Commonwealth citizens, qualified persons as defined by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2000 and the various additional categories mentioned in the definition of “persons from abroad” such as refugees, those with indefinite leave to remain and those to whom exceptional leave to remain has been granted, on the one hand, and any lesser status, in particular that of an EEA national who is in this country having entered lawfully, has committed no breach of immigration law, but is not a qualified person and therefore does not enjoy the benefit of regulation 14 which confers a “right to reside”.

I accept Mr Sales' proposition that the European cases show that, in this area, the scope of application of the Treaty, for the purposes of article 12, includes both cases where a right of residence arises directly under the Treaty and those where it arises separately under the law of the Member State. It does not extend to cases where no right of residence exists under either the Treaty or the relevant domestic law.