Thousands of EU citizens ‘at risk of losing legal status after Brexit’

[rooibos]

http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/thousan ... 4263966857

Thousands of EU citizens ‘at risk of losing legal status after Brexit’

Domestic abuse victims, children and the elderly are among those who could be vulnerable, according to experts.

Thousands of EU nationals could inadvertently become illegal residents in the UK after Brexit, a new report warns.

Domestic abuse victims, children and the elderly are among those at risk of losing their right to remain in Britain despite meeting the required criteria to stay, according to experts.

This could be because they struggle to provide documentation and complete a registration process, or do not realise they need to apply to continue living in the UK legally.

The potential gap was highlighted in a paper by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.

Its director Madeleine Sumption said: “The Home Office is clearly keen to create a system that is easy and straightforward to use, and most EU citizens should be able to sail through a simplified application process with little difficulty.

“But for a minority of people, the process will be more difficult.

“Many of these are already society’s most vulnerable — whether it is because they are socially isolated, have been victims of exploitation, or face personal barriers such as mental health or poverty.”

Many people simply won’t realise they need to apply, Ms Sumption added.

She said: “We know from other government programmes like child benefit that people often don’t apply for something even when it’s really in their interests to do so.”

Later this year the Home Office will launch an application system for EU nationals seeking to remain in Britain after Brexit.

Those who have been in the country for five years by the end of 2020 will be able to apply for settled status – meaning they are free to continue living and working in the UK.

People who have arrived by December 31, 2020, but do not have five years’ residence will be able to apply to stay until they have reached the threshold, at which point they can seek settled status.

The Migration Observatory analysis said a “potentially significant” number of individuals may not be aware that they can or need to apply.

One group in this category are children whose parents do not themselves apply, do not realise their offspring need to or mistakenly believe their UK-born children are automatically UK citizens.

There are more than 900,000 children of non-Irish EU citizen parents living in the UK, born either here or abroad, according to the report.

This includes an estimated 239,000 UK-born children whose parents report that they are UK citizens – but the paper says available data suggest that tens of thousands may not be.

Also in this bracket could be 140,000 people who have lived in the UK for more than 30 years, 56,000 people aged 75 or over, and more than 145,000 EU nationals who have already been granted permanent residence but still need to apply for settled status, the study adds.

It highlights how some applications may be more difficult for those who are vulnerable or have “reduced autonomy” – such as domestic abuse victims who rely on a partner to provide documentation.

Researchers also noted that some people may struggle to navigate the application process because of language difficulties, age, disability or a lack of computer literacy or online access.

More than three million EU nationals living in the UK will be able to apply to stay when an online application form goes live towards the end of this year.

Applicants will have to provide an ID document and a recent photograph, as well as declare any criminal convictions.

The scheme will remain open until the end of June 2021 to ensure people have time to apply.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are well aware of the challenges of ensuring that three million EU citizens and their family members living here understand the need to apply and have the ability to.

“That is why we have already launched a national awareness campaign, are holding monthly meetings with EU citizens’ representatives to understand their needs and are planning a range of support for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children and families, victims of domestic violence and those with English as a second language.

“We will be setting out further details before the summer and EU citizens will have plenty of time to make an application.

“But we have also been clear that we will exercise discretion if there are good reasons why someone has not been able to make an application before the June 2021 deadline.”

Campaign organisation the3million, which represents EU citizens living in the UK, said: “As per the report, we know not everyone will be able to apply using the app and the Home Office should fund access to local face-to-face support for all applicants, so no-one is left behind.

“We need a settled status grace after the transition period, so vulnerable EU citizens, who haven’t applied for whatever reason, are not penalised.”

[rooibos]

Original source: The Migration Observatory:
http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.u ... er-brexit/

This has been picked up by all major news outlets, minus this forum. Sign of the times?

Evening Standard:
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politic ... 11856.html

Indy:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 99556.html

Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... main-in-uk

Mirror:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ ... e-12348042

[rooibos]

A deafening silence on this subject. Has immigrationboards.com given up on the subject of EU citizens and settled status?

Meanwhile on the New Statesman:
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/b ... vulnerable

Imagine waking up one day and being told you have to apply to live in the country you already live in – and have lived in – for decades. No longer can you rest comfortably in your ignorance about the impossibly complicated immigration system. You can't rely on the status quo – that doesn't exist for you anymore.

You have to navigate the gov.uk website – and not just once a year to slog through your tax return – but to apply to continue with your life as you know it. Suddenly you have to prove something so second nature to you it seems impossible to know where to start.

This is the reality for many of the 3.4 million non-Irish EU citizens living in the UK. After months of deadening silence and obfuscation, the government eventually came up with a plan to allow for indefinite leave via something called “settled status”, for which the vast majority of those people qualify.

[alterhase58]

In the absence of the final EU agreement, the new "settle status" system, a new UK Immigration Act, new Home Office rules and regulations, work instructions, etc, etc, there is really not much anyone can discuss but speculation. This has unfortunately been the case ever since the referendum.

To my mind the devil's in the detail - the EU Agreement is one thing - the final UK internal paperwork is another thing. There are still far too many questions and concerns. We are to have this board.

[rooibos]

In the meantime nobody is representing us. Maybe we should just resign to the fact we'll get shafted.

[secret.simon]

Perhaps we have a difference of understanding of what these forums facilitate.

As I understand it, these forums help immigrants (predominantly to the UK) with comprehending how to analyse their situation and assist them with their immigration issues. It also provides a space for people to discuss and debate the Brexit referendum results and its aftermath. What it does not do, to the best of my knowledge, is campaign or represent any single point of view.

The focus of the forums is de lege lata, “the law as it exists”, not de lege ferenda, “the law as it should be”. We can and do discuss how to use existing law in our favour, just as tax accountants help their clients restructure their tax affairs to their best advantage. What we do not do is campaign or represent anybody. We are an immigration forum, not a political party.

If you wish for an organisation that campaigns for EU citizens in the UK, you could contact The 3 million and/or one of a myriad of organisations who are attempting to stop Brexit. You can also contact your local MP and also liaise with the APPG on EU Relations, led by Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry, subscribe to the New European, etc.

[rooibos]

So secret.simon, are you saying I should not post or my post is not welcome?

[Obie]

There is a lot of awareness on the issues of EEA national. people are very viligant and watching the government's every move.

Unlike in the case of the Windrush people whose nations are not powerful and rife in corruption the EU is very powerful and influential, I do not believe we have much to worry about yet. We are watching the government and if needs be, they will be fought in the court tooth and nail.

I can see your anxiety, but we should watch and see how the Spring play out.

One advantage that EU citizens have over the Windrush victims, is that there are about 1.5 Million British citizens in the EU, so the EU has many card, not just economical.

[secret.simon]

FT: Alarm raised over scale of task of registering EU citizens
Ex-Home Office head Normington warns process could take years after Brexit

The former head of the Home Office has said that he is “very worried” about the ability of his old department to register more than 3m EU citizens currently living in Britain after Brexit.

David Normington said it could take years to process all of the applications from EU nationals hoping to acquire the new “settled status” being offered by the government.
...
“Imagine if each of those individuals have to fill in just one form and produce one bit of evidence. That could be 6-7m pieces of documentation. Any administrative system would struggle with that unless it was properly resourced, the people were properly trained, and you had time — and I mean a number of years — to implement it.”
...

[bruteforce]

Brexit: First applications from EU nationals for settled status

[Cleo22]

Hi guys,
I have read as much as I could about the new scheme for settled and pre-settled status but one thing I could not understand. At the moment, an EU citizen is required to have lawfully resided, exercising treaty rights, in the UK for 6 years and to have acquired Permanent Residence, before they could apply for naturalisation. Now that settled status is going to replace PR (is it really?), what happens to the naturalisation? Would a person who's acquired settled status be able to apply to become a British citizen a year later?

[rooibos]

Hi guys,
I have read as much as I could about the new scheme for settled and pre-settled status but one thing I could not understand. At the moment, an EU citizen is required to have lawfully resided, exercising treaty rights, in the UK for 6 years and to have acquired Permanent Residence, before they could apply for naturalisation. Now that settled status is going to replace PR (is it really?), what happens to the naturalisation? Would a person who's acquired settled status be able to apply to become a British citizen a year later?

First off, I don't give it for granted that the settled status thingy is going to happen, and if it does, it will be predictably a massive chicken-up.

Having said that, the concept of exercising Treaty Rights will disappear. Consequently the standard rules for those having ILR will apply. But... watch this space!

[alterhase58]

@cleo22
people on ILR now must have held ILR for a year before applying for citizenship (unless spouse of a BC). So I would expect no difference there, as "settled status" is basically the same as ILR.

[Richard W]

@cleo22
people on ILR now must have held ILR for a year before applying for citizenship (unless spouse of a BC). So I would expect no difference there, as "settled status" is basically the same as ILR.

One very big difference is that the 5 years leading up to PR based on 5 years presence are spent in accordance with the EEA Regulations, and so not 'in breach of the immigration laws'. This is not so in the case of settled status based on 5 years presence. AnotherUUID and I have identified a nightmare scenario whereby:

1) An EEA national, P, with such settled status, but not PR, applies for naturalisation, assuming everything is in order.
2) The Home Office does not notice that that P was 'in breach of the immigration laws' during the qualifying period for naturalisation (no leave and no relevant exercise of treaty rights, e.g. due to lack of CSI)
3) The EEA national is naturalised.
4) Years later, the Home Office realises that the naturalisation application did not mention the matter of being in breach of the immigration laws, and deprives P of British citizenship on the grounds of deception for omission of a material fact.

This leaves P with no leave to be in the UK, and possibly stateless. In some cases, an exercise of treaty rights may bring P within the protection of the withdrawal agreement, but the circumstances that led to P not having PR in the first place are likely to lead to P not being so protected. Additionally, this protection may be lost if the naturalisation led to the loss of P's EEA nationality.