Definitions
Article 3
For the purpose of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply: (1) ‘third-country national’ means any person who is not a citizen of the Union within the meaning of Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and who is not a person enjoying the right of free movement under Union law, as defined in Article 2, point (5), of Regulation (EU) 2016/399; (2) ‘illegal stay’ means the presence, on the territory of a Member State, of a third-country national who does not fulfil, or who no longer fulfils, the entry conditions for third-country nationals as set out in Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399, or the conditions for stay or residence in that Member State, or, in the case of a Member State not bound by that Regulation, the conditions for entry, stay or residence laid down in equivalent national law; (3) ‘country of return’ means one of the following: (a) a third country that is the country of origin of the third-country national; (b) a third country that is the country of former habitual residence of the third-country national; (c) a third country of transit on the way to the Union in accordance with Union or Member States’ readmission agreements or arrangements; (d) a third country, other than the one referred to in points (a) and (b), where the third-country national has a right to enter and reside; (e) a safe third country in relation to which the application for international protection of a third-country national has been rejected as inadmissible, pursuant to Article 38(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 or, in the case of Member States not bound by that Regulation, in accordance with equivalent provisions where they have introduced such provisions in national law; (f) the first country of asylum in relation to which the application for international protection of a third-country national has been rejected as inadmissible, pursuant to Article 38(1), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 or, in the case of Member States not bound by that Regulation, in accordance with equivalent provisions where they have introduced such provisions in national law; (g) a third country, other than the one referred to in point (a), (b) or (d), with which there is an agreement or arrangement on the basis of which the third-country national is accepted, in accordance with Article 14 of this Regulation; (4) ‘return decision’ means an administrative or judicial act or decision, stating or declaring the stay of a third-country national to be illegal and stating or imposing an obligation for that third-country national to leave the territory of the Member States; (5) ‘return’ means the actions by which an illegally staying third-country national: (a) voluntarily returns, as defined in point 8; or (b) is removed by competent authorities from the Member States to a country of return determined in a decision ordering removal or, where applicable, in a return decision; (6) ‘decision ordering removal’ means an administrative or judicial act or decision stating or declaring that a third-country national can be removed to one or more countries of return; (7) ‘removal’ means the enforcement of a return decision or a decision ordering removal by the competent authorities through physical transportation from the Member States to a country of return; (8) ‘voluntary return’ means the departure from the territory of the Member States on his or her own, with or without assistance, and without resorting to removal, of an illegally staying third-country national complying with the obligation to leave within or after the expiry of the departure period set out in the return decision; (9) ‘absconding’ means the action by which a third-country national does not remain available to the competent administrative or judicial authorities; (10) ‘entry ban’ means an administrative or judicial act or decision prohibiting the entry into and stay on the territory of the Member States of a third-country national; (11) ‘return operation’ means an operation organised or coordinated by a competent authority or supported by Frontex by which third-country nationals are returned from one or more Member States.