Leaving the UK temporarily during Brexit negotiations

[rooibos]

Granted that we are in the middle of long, difficult and unpredictable Brexit negotiations, as things stand, what are the known provisions for EEA citizens who have left or will leave the country after the 27th of March?

Assuming for the moment that a EEA citizen:

- has exercised treaty right for more than 5 years by the 29th of March
- hasn't applied for PR yet, and:
- leaves the country (e.g. for a job abroad) with the intention of coming back within 2 years

Will leaving the country trigger a surrender of any of their rights with regards to residence?
If not, will they then be able to claim PR (in case it's still there) from abroad?

[secret.simon]

Nobody knows. You are asking for the outcome of negotiations that have not even started yet. If you are asking as a matter of law, the law itself will be in considerable state of flux and I doubt anybody can answer that question.

Generally, the practice for non-EEA citizens at the moment is that their status is dependent on the specific documentation issued to them by the Home Office. After Brexit, it is not improbable that those EU citizens who have documentary proof of PR will retain status on the basis that their status has been verified by the Home Office and they have appropriate documentation.

If you do not have the documentation, your status may be unclear.

Then again, let's see how badly the negotiations are going to get (my feeling is that they will have full and frank discussions - meaning that the cleaners will be cleaning the blood off the carpets every morning).

[rooibos]

I wasn't asking what would happen after Brexit. I'm talking before the actual Brexit happens. I though I had made it clear in my question.