Home Office U turn: EU citizens who were previously granted permanent residency cards may now be allowed to stay in the UK
The Home Office has revised its guidance on the rights of EU citizens who lived in the UK before Brexit, by allowing people who were previously granted permanent residence cards to make a late application to the EU Settlement Scheme in some circumstances.
Guidance implemented on 16th January 2024 now confirms the specific circumstances EU citizens have to be in to make a late application. These are still very limited in scope, and a majority of late applicants are still expected to be confronted with huge barriers to get their application to be considered.
Andreea Dumitrache, Communications Manager at the3million, said:
“We are glad to see this change has been made, as a result of advocacy across the sector, with more than 50 organisations asking for it through a letter coordinated by the3million and ILPA.
However, we’re disappointed the Home Office still does not accept that having an EEA permanent residence card in itself is sufficient evidence for reasonable grounds for applying late.
People are also expected to beg, bend their knee and show remorse for not knowing.
We are concerned this will lead to only people with access to legal advice to be able to get their application through. In a time when the Home Office has slashed funding to grant funded organisations qualified to provide advice, it is the most vulnerable who will suffer.
Vulnerable EU citizens, those living in poverty, ethnic minorities, those who are not digitally literate, can still be refused, despite living in this country for years, if they do not tick all the additional boxes.
There are also many others who were not granted permanent residence cards, but who may still have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. For some, their vulnerability has prevented them from making an in time application. They are now very likely to be refused, if they do not access legal advice. Others will have been told by the Home Office to reapply following a previous incorrect refusal, and will now be considered not to have a reasonable ground for a late application.
The Home Office is working off the assumption that people will encounter a "trigger event" and find out they need to apply. People can live in the UK for years without a trigger event making them aware they need to secure status. This was made exceedingly clear by the Windrush scandal, in which many people discovered their lack of proof of status many years after changes in policy and legislation.
Politicians promised EU citizens would retain their rights after Brexit. This government needs to take responsibility and change this culture of disbelief in the Home Office. The most vulnerable cannot be those who suffer the burden and have their lives destroyed.”
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