Brexit app for EU nationals won't work on iPhones

'Beyond belief': Brexit app for EU nationals won't work on iPhones

MEPs say problems with app is further proof of Home Office’s poor grasp of technology

A mobile phone app for EU nationals seeking to stay in the UK after Brexit – claimed to be as user-friendly as “an online account at LK Bennett” – will not work on iPhones, Home Office officials have admitted.

After arriving late for a meeting in Brussels to reassure MEPs of the efficiency of the British government, officials from Amber Rudd’s department conceded that a key function on the app would not work on the phone brand used by more than half of the adult population in the UK.

Catherine Bearder, a Liberal Democrat MEP who attended the meeting, said one Home Office official had suggested applicants could “borrow someone else’s” phone to complete the registration. “It is beyond belief,” Bearder told reporters.

The group of officials, who were late due to a delayed Eurostar, were in Brussels to demonstrate to MEPs the functions of the new Home Office app in order to build confidence.

Rudd had insisted that using the Home Office app would be as easy for the 3 million EU nationals in the UK as setting up an online account at LK Bennett, the clothes retailer. She also said it had been “extensively tested”, but Home Office officials admitted they had not yet begun mass testing of the app. They also said they would be hiring 1,000 caseworkers for a customer service centre for EU citizens, although they had not yet begun this process.

However, the fact that the app does not work on Apple devices has highlighted what many say is the government’s poor record with technology.

EU citizens who have tested the app say it requires just a small amount of information, such as a scan of a passport, address, email address and a selfie to match the passport picture. The system then matches the biographical details with HM Revenue & Customs records to give the applicant an instant answer as to whether their application has been successful.

However, it has emerged that because Apple will not enable its technology to read the chip on modern passports, the registration can only be completed on an Android phone.