tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/settled-status-52419/articlesSettled status – The Conversation2019-08-31T13:03:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1226592019-08-31T13:03:58Z2019-08-31T13:03:58ZHow EU families in Britain are coping with Brexit uncertainty<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290317/original/file-20190830-165997-jj8l25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU2NzIwMDIxNiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTI1NTYyMzE2MyIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMjU1NjIzMTYzL21lZGl1bS5qcGciLCJtIjoxLCJkIjoic2h1dHRlcnN0b2NrLW1lZGlhIn0sIkFnSEVKMlJPYVZYc3JISU1KZ3Vja09JRTdkTSJd%2Fshutterstock_1255623163.jpg&pi=33421636&m=1255623163&src=-1-33">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mirela left Croatia in 1991 because of the civil war in Yugoslavia. Her husband Frank grew up in the Republic of Ireland. Both are worried Brexit has left a deep scar through British society, one that it will take years to heal. They also worry about the impact of Brexit on their mixed-nationality families and how to mitigate it.</p>
<p>“It is a smart option to get as many passports as you can,” Mirela, who holds a passport from the newest EU member state, Croatia, told our team. For Frank, an Irish national, his Republic of Ireland passport is the best to have under current circumstances due to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/08/british-irish-deal-guarantee-rights-citizens-after-brexit">additional arrangements</a> between the Republic of Ireland and the UK regarding the status of their citizens.</p>
<p>Mirela, who has seen how quickly a country can implode and how rapidly the value of a passport can change, is not persuaded. “Things can change quickly,” She says.</p>
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<p>These comments are a snapshot of the many, often animated and tense, conversations EU families have had since June 2016. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/49465298">Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, recently said</a> the chances of a Brexit deal are now “touch and go”, having previously said the odds of a no-deal Brexit were “a million to one”. This has reopened the debate around the protections provided by the “EU settled status” arrangement, further igniting EU citizens’ anxieties and moving more people towards applying for a British passport via naturalisation.</p>
<p>The latest <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2019">Home Office</a> immigration statistics released in August show that since March 2019, when the scheme was officially launched after a pilot phase, more than a million EU nationals have applied for <a href="https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/applying-for-settled-status">“EU settled status”</a> which allows them to continue living in the UK after Brexit.</p>
<p>Data also reveal that the share of British citizenship applications by EU nationals has increased from 4% in 2007 to 30% in June 2019. At the time of the 2016 EU referendum, applications by EU citizens accounted for 12% of the total.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290305/original/file-20190830-165993-zx96e2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290305/original/file-20190830-165993-zx96e2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290305/original/file-20190830-165993-zx96e2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290305/original/file-20190830-165993-zx96e2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290305/original/file-20190830-165993-zx96e2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290305/original/file-20190830-165993-zx96e2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290305/original/file-20190830-165993-zx96e2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Applications for British citizenship, 2007-2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics (Citizenship tables), August 2019. Data for 2019 cover Q1 and Q2. Elaboration: Eurochildren</span></span>
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<p>Our <a href="http://www.eurochildren.info">study</a> – EU families and Eurochildren in Brexiting Britain – shows that for some EU citizens, the result of the EU referendum has meant a sudden and even shocking realisation of the fragility of their legal position in the UK. Others, instead, had already encountered the UK government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/hostile-environment-the-uk-governments-draconian-immigration-policy-explained-95460">“hostile environment”</a> and experienced being at the receiving end of the virulent anti-immigration rhetoric of <a href="https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/anti-immigration-rhetoric-the-poisonous-xenophobia-of-our-press-1-4921622">some British newspapers</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1451308">research</a> shows that Polish and other Central and Eastern EU nationals in the UK have felt negatively targeted by British populist media since much before the June 2016 EU referendum. This might explain why, similarly to Romanian citizens, they began to apply in sizeable numbers for British citizenship even before the referendum and are currently the two main countries of origin of citizenship applicants, followed by Italians, Germans and French.</p>
<p>Given the above, it’s unsurprising, therefore, that while the increase in applications for British citizenship <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/articles/migrationtheeuropeanunionandworkhowmuchdoyoureallyknow/2017-07-19">from citizens of so-called “old member states” (EU14)</a> (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) has been steeper since June 2016, the increase among citizens of “new member states” – divided into EU8 (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) and EU2 (Romania, Bulgaria), according to their date of accession to the EU – began earlier.</p>
<p>In 2013, 47% of all British citizenship applications by EU citizens came from EU8 nationals, 27% from EU2 nationals, and 25% from EU14 nationals. By contrast, in 2019, EU14 citizens accounted for 51% of all EU applications, with the EU8 accounting for 30%, and the EU2 18%.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/23/brexit-surge-britons-becoming-german-citizens">Newspaper reports</a> often take this as evidence of EU nationals racing to secure their status in the UK. But there are an estimated <a href="https://eurochildrenblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/eurochildren-brief-3-llp-ns.pdf">3.7m EU nationals in the UK</a>, and only one third has so far applied for settled status and 130,000 for citizenship since the EU referendum.</p>
<p><a href="https://eurochildrenblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/eurochildren-brief-2-colin-yeo.pdf">Our findings</a> have highlighted how some EU citizens, particularly children, risk falling through the cracks of the settled status registration process and, as a consequence, may encounter insurmountable obstacles to later accessing citizenship.</p>
<h2>A hard decision</h2>
<p>There are a range of economic, social and legal considerations, including fees, eligibility restrictions, and the right to dual nationality that may preclude EU nationals from applying for citizenship. We also found that for those in the position to do it, it is rarely a decision that is taken lightly. Many going through the process feel like the decision has been forced upon them by circumstances, and ultimately decided to apply with family and the future of their children at the forefront of their minds.</p>
<p>Family composition, in terms of the countries of birth of both parents and children, also plays a role in the decision-making process. We found that in mixed nationality families, including those with a UK-born partner, leaving the UK and “going home” is a rarely a realistic option and that naturalisation becomes the only viable way of keeping the family safe and together. </p>
<p>We also found that attitudes towards naturalisation vary significantly among EU nationals. Better off and more educated EU nationals, for example, are more reluctant to apply to become British, on ideological and political grounds. Among EU14 nationals this response to naturalisation was more frequent.</p>
<p>Others, like Mirela, take a more pragmatic approach to acquiring a British passport, particularly those who have previously experienced the constraints and difficulties of visa restrictions and come from countries with lower trust in state institutions and the rule of law (for example, Romania and Bulgaria). </p>
<p>The outcome of the EU referendum is tearing some EU families apart, uprooting children and parents, spreading them across borders, and forcing families to reconsider their future in the UK. Under these circumstances, becoming a British citizen is often a defensive move – for those who can afford the £1,349 per person application fee – and a way for them to “take back control” over their lives after years of uncertainty.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nando Sigona receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>Applying for British citizenship or settled status is a way for EU nationals to ‘take back control’ over their lives.Nando Sigona, Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Deputy Director of the Institute for Research into Superdiversity, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1142222019-03-28T11:33:24Z2019-03-28T11:33:24ZBrexit: what a delay means for EU citizens and the settled status scheme<p>Amid the ongoing Brexit stalemate, the Home Office is pushing ahead with its plan for EU citizens living in the UK to register for a new “settled status”. It has launched a new nationwide <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-launches-nationwide-campaign-for-eu-settlement-scheme">marketing campaign</a> to encourage them to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme before its full roll-out on March 30. </p>
<p>All this is happening despite uncertainty over what the date of Brexit will actually be. At a crunch EU summit in Brussels on March 21, the EU agreed to grant the UK <a href="https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7960#fullreport">two possible extensions</a> of varying length to the <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12012M050">article 50</a> negotiating period which governs the Brexit process.</p>
<p>If MPs in Westminster don’t approve the Brexit withdrawal agreement by March 29, then the Brexit date will be extended until April 12. If they do approve it, the extension will be until May 22. Yet the option to revoke the article 50 notification period – or cancel Brexit – and the option for a <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/03/21/remarks-by-president-donald-tusk-after-the-european-council-meeting-art-50/">long extension</a> remain possible, should the UK decide to hold European Parliament elections.</p>
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<p>There are estimated to be over 3m EU citizens living in the UK and around 1.3m British citizens living in <a href="https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimates17.asp">other EU countries</a>. So what do the extended dates mean for citizens unsure of their status once the UK leaves the EU? </p>
<p>After Brexit, the rights of EU citizens in the UK will be protected either under <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/16/notes/division/2/index.htm">national law</a> or by the existing international treaties the UK has signed, such as the <a href="https://rightsinfo.org/the-rights-in-the-european-convention/">European Convention of Human Rights</a>. The rights of UK nationals elsewhere in the EU will fall back on the protections provided by each country and EU legislation on the rights of third country nationals, such as the <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32003L0109">long term residents directive</a>. This setup is likely to remain in place until the UK and the EU agree a future international treaty upon which their relationship will be based – when the second stage of Brexit is complete. </p>
<h2>EU citizens in the UK</h2>
<p>The rights currently guaranteed to mobile EU citizens and their families by EU law are wide ranging and often strongly depend on whether they are economically active. These <a href="https://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/2939190">include</a> the right to work, study and to undertake self-employment activity. They also include the rights to pensions and healthcare, and the possibility to draw on <a href="https://theconversation.com/brexit-and-benefits-why-leaving-the-eu-wont-solve-britains-migration-issues-60916">social welfare benefits</a>. </p>
<p>If the current withdrawal agreement is not approved by MPs, then EU law will cease to apply in the UK on April 12 if it leaves the bloc without a deal. So, it’s likely that most of these rights will depend on whether a person has the right to live legally in the UK. As of today, much uncertainty remains regarding the precise details of some rights, for example EU citizens’ access to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eea-nationals-in-the-uk-access-to-social-housing-and-homelessness-assistance-in-a-no-deal-scenario">social housing and homelessness assistance</a> or <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-citizens-in-the-uk-benefits-and-pensions-in-a-no-deal-scenario">benefits and pensions</a>.</p>
<p>The government’s principle mechanism for determining the right of residence for non-Irish EU citizens after Brexit is the settled status scheme, which will be launched on March 30. It doesn’t cover Irish nationals, who will be protected in the same way as the UK nationals. </p>
<p>According to the scheme’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families">official guidance</a>, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, EU citizens will have until December 31, 2020 to register. If MPs do agree the Brexit deal, the timeframe for registration would be longer: June 30, 2021. Those who don’t apply by these deadlines may <a href="https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/deportations-removals-and-voluntary-departures-from-the-uk/">risk deportation</a> from the UK. This means that despite the uncertainty over when Brexit will actually happen, EU citizens are still encouraged to apply for settled status. They can seek <a href="http://www.eurights.uk/">free advice on how to do this</a>. </p>
<p>In a no-deal scenario, EU citizens in the UK will find it <a href="https://adminlawblog.org/2019/01/11/joe-tomlinson-and-byron-karmeba-no-deal-no-appeal-a-case-for-amending-the-uks-immigration-and-social-security-co-ordination-eu-withdrawal-bill/">more difficult</a> to challenge administrative immigration decisions in relation to settled status applications, especially given the UK’s extremely <a href="https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/simplifying-the-immigration-rules/">complex</a> current immigration rules. This is because the <a href="https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/immigrationandsocialsecuritycoordinationeuwithdrawal.html">Immigration and Social Security Coordination Bill</a>, currently going through parliament, doesn’t provide for a right to appeal to a tribunal in such circumstances. </p>
<p>In contrast, if a deal is agreed, the right to appeal decision is provided for in the withdrawal agreement, ensuring access to justice and better protection for some of the <a href="https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Report-Unsettled_Status_3.pdf">most vulnerable EU citizens at risk</a>. These include – among others – children, carers, women, people who believe they are ineligible, or who will struggle to submit an application due to language, age, disability or digital literacy.</p>
<h2>British citizens in the EU</h2>
<p>Despite calls from citizens, the EU has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47408789">refused</a> to act separately to safeguard the rights of EU citizens in a no-deal scenario. As with the UK, <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/brexit/brexit-preparedness/residence-rights-uk-nationals-eu-member-states_en">many EU countries</a> will require UK nationals to complete temporary registration with the authorities, in order for their residence to be legally recognised. </p>
<p>The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office published <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/overseas-living-in-guides">guidance</a> for UK nationals living in the EU which explains what residence rules will apply in each member state, and the Department for Work and Pensions has drafted special guidance on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-nationals-in-the-eu-benefits-and-pensions-in-a-no-deal-scenario">benefits and pensions</a>. The European Commission also recently published <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/factsheets-and-questions-and-answers_en">several factsheets</a> to help EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU plan their life in the case of no deal. </p>
<p>Despite this, there are many EU rights that are awarded to anyone living in an EU member state, regardless of their citizenship. These include consumer protection, workers’ rights or environmental protection, which award common guarantees that will <a href="https://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/questioning-eu-citizenship-9781509914654/">continue to be</a> applied to UK nationals living in the EU after Brexit. </p>
<p>For many, the uncertainty regarding their rights will remain. Once Brexit takes place, the next step will be to <a href="https://theconversation.com/four-options-for-uk-trade-after-brexit-62363">negotiate the future relationship between the UK and the EU</a>, which may create a different legal landscape for cross-border rights. But all this will depend on the international treaty negotiated in the second stage of the Brexit process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Egle Dagilyte has previously consulted the European Commission, The3Million and British in Europe. She is currently carrying out research on the Migrant Workers’ Mapping Project, funded by the Rosmini Centre Wisbech. Her work will contribute to the wider multi-agency two-year project led by the Fenland District Council (sponsored by the Controlling Migration Fund) that aims to understand migration in Fenland better, in preparation for post-Brexit challenges.</span></em></p>What rights and legal protections will EU citizens in the UK and Britons in the EU have when they become ‘third country nationals’ after Brexit?Egle Dagilyte, Senior Lecturer in Law, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1102192019-01-22T13:37:24Z2019-01-22T13:37:24ZSettled status for EU citizens – Q&A with law expert on what it does and doesn’t guarantee<p><em>As a result of Brexit and the expected end to free movement of people that will accompany it, all EU citizens (other than Irish citizens) living in the UK will soon be required to register for <a href="https://theconversation.com/eu-citizens-what-settled-status-after-brexit-really-means-a-legal-expert-explains-97810">a new type of “settled status”</a>. On January 21, the day her government began the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/when-to-apply">next stage of its pilot</a> testing of the settled status application scheme, Theresa May announced that EU citizens would no longer be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/21/may-drops-65-fee-for-eu-nationals-seeking-post-brexit-settled-status">charged a £65 application fee</a>. What does settled status mean, and how would it change if the UK left the EU without a Brexit deal?</em> </p>
<p><strong>Q: Does settled status still act as a guarantee that an EU citizen can live or work in the UK in the case of a no-deal Brexit?</strong> </p>
<p>Official government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families">guidance</a> has confirmed that in the case of no-deal Brexit, the settled status scheme will still apply. However, if the UK left the EU without a deal on March 29, 2019, the timeframe would be sped up.</p>
<p>No deal means the planned <a href="https://theconversation.com/brexit-transition-what-will-and-wont-change-for-britons-after-march-2019-107558">transition period</a>, scheduled until the end of December 2020, would not happen. Under a no-deal scenario, settled status would only be available for those EU citizens resident in the UK before March 29 2019 – and those who qualified by that date would have only until December 31 2020 to put in their application. </p>
<p>If a deal is passed, while still subject to what is ultimately agreed, it is assumed that eligible EU citizens would have until June 30 2021 to submit their application. So it is clear that no-deal Brexit leaves EU citizens with a lot less room for error or delay.</p>
<p><strong>Q: Will settled status give an EU citizen the same rights they are afforded now, while the UK is still in the EU?</strong></p>
<p>The idea is that yes, settled status should guarantee the same rights currently enjoyed by EU citizens taking advantage of EU free movement rules. This includes health care, pensions and other benefits and services in the UK. </p>
<p>While EU citizens who already have <a href="https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/if-you-have-permanent-residence-or-indefinite-leave-to-remain">indefinite leave to remain</a> in the UK can apply for settled status, they do not have to. Settled status means they can live for up to five years in a row outside of the UK and still return, compared to two years in a row with indefinite leave to remain. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-eus-rules-on-free-movement-allow-all-its-citizens-to-do-62186">What the EU's rules on free movement allow all its citizens to do</a>
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<p>According to the government’s <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/762222/Policy_paper_on_citizens__rights_in_the_event_of_a_no_deal_Brexit.pdf">policy paper on no-deal implications</a>, any settled EU citizens in the UK before March 29 2019 could have close family join them until March 29 2022. After this time, any family wishing to join EU citizens in the UK would be subject to a future new immigration system, under which the government <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/766672/The-UKs-future-skills-based-immigration-system-accessible-version.pdf">intends</a> to treat EU and non-EU nationals arriving in the UK the same.</p>
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<span class="caption">A no-deal Brexit would change the application deadlines for EU citizens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Segre/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p><strong>Q: What will happen to an EU citizen who has not secured pre-settled or settled status by the deadline?</strong> </p>
<p>The “deadline” for a settled status application changes in the case of a no-deal Brexit – and March 29 2019 becomes a much more important date. Any EU citizen not resident in the UK before this date would no longer be eligible for settlement. This has wide-reaching implications for deportation. </p>
<p>Deportation of EU citizens is something the EU has <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-britain-can-deport-eu-citizens-according-to-the-law-86896">extremely high protection against</a>. But in the case of a no-deal scenario the high standard of protection against deportation currently governed by EU law would apply in the UK only until March 29 2019. </p>
<p>After this, <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/30/crossheading/deportation-of-criminals">UK law</a> will apply to EU nationals as well as non-EU nationals. It allows anyone considered to be a “foreign criminal” to be deported automatically. If, under UK law, EU citizens who fail to secure settled status before the deadline are considered “foreign criminals” by the government, then there is a chance they could be liable to deportation.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, even if a Brexit deal is reached, there are still questions surrounding how protected an EU citizen will be from deportation after any transition period. </p>
<p><strong>Q: Once somebody has pre-settled status, do they need to do anything in particular to get settled status?</strong></p>
<p>Pre-settled status grants the same rights as settled status. At the moment, an EU citizen who applies and is granted pre-settled status (because they had not yet been in the UK for five years), will have to apply for settled status once they are eligible if they want to remain in the UK. </p>
<p>The details are unclear as to how difficult or long-winded this process will be, though the message has consistently been that the whole process will be “<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/718237/EU_Settlement_Scheme_SOI_June_2018.pdf">streamlined and user-friendly</a>”. But it remains unclear what would happen to someone with pre-settled status who fails to apply for settled status, and this could raise concerns for anybody who fails to grasp that this second step is needed.</p>
<p><strong>Q: Can EU citizens apply to become British citizens once they have acquired settled status?</strong></p>
<p>British citizenship is always available to anybody who meets the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/british-citizenship">criteria</a>. In the original <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/766672/The-UKs-future-skills-based-immigration-system-accessible-version.pdf">statement of intent</a> about the programme from the Home Office published June 2018, settled status would replace the status of having indefinite leave to remain. </p>
<p>This means that an EU national granted settled status would be able to apply for British citizenship immediately if they were a spouse or civil partner of a British national and had lived in the UK for at least three years (though to get settled status they would need to have been resident for five years anyway). They could also apply immediately if they had held indefinite leave to remain for more than a year. Otherwise, they would have to wait a year after getting settled status to apply for British citizenship.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrienne Yong has previously consulted for The3Million campaign group. She received funding from City Pump Priming Scheme on a research project about the post-Brexit effect on the right to private and family life of EU citizens in the UK.</span></em></p>The government has abandoned its plan to charge £65 for EU citizens applying for ‘settled status’ after Brexit – but what does it secure.Adrienne Yong, Lecturer at The City Law School, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1065492018-11-08T10:05:36Z2018-11-08T10:05:36ZEU citizens in the UK and a no-deal Brexit – what remains unclear<p>The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union has been a difficult process to navigate from the start. With time running out to secure a Brexit deal, the British immigration minister, Caroline Nokes, caused confusion in early November, when she appeared not to know the UK government’s plans for EU citizens in the event of a no-deal Brexit. </p>
<p>Nokes was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-46034742/yvette-cooper-is-confused-by-caroline-nokes-position-on-eu-migrants-after-brexit?intlink_from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Ftopics%2Fcp841kx3edyt%2Fcaroline-nokes&link_location=live-reporting-map">asked by</a> Yvette Cooper, chair of the home affairs select committee, how employers were to distinguish between EU citizens who had just arrived, and EU citizens who had been in the UK for years in the event of a no-deal. Nokes replied that there was an expectation on employers to carry out <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46035919">right-to-work checks rigorously</a>. Yet, this would allow employers to determine who was an EU citizen, and also therefore discriminate against them more easily. </p>
<p>Nokes’s answer directly <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-immigration-no-deal-rights-eu-citizens-employers-home-office-caroline-nokes-a8611966.html">contradicted statements</a> issued by the Home Office to EU citizens’ rights campaign groups, which guaranteed that such checks would not be necessary. The confusion caused <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/01/home-office-caroline-nokes-eu-checks-immigration-brexit-employers-right-to-work">panic among EU citizens living in the UK</a>. </p>
<p>Sajid Javid, the home secretary, had to quickly <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46070709">issue a statement reassuring EU citizens</a> that what Nokes said was, in fact, wrong. Instead, there would be a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/01/home-office-caroline-nokes-eu-checks-immigration-brexit-employers-right-to-work">“transition period”</a> before the right-to-work checks were required. Yet it’s not clear whether this is the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43456502">same transition period</a>, due to end in December 2020, that the EU and UK set out as part of the Brexit negotiations.</p>
<p>So what do we really know about what a no-deal Brexit would mean for EU citizens?</p>
<h2>Hinged on the withdrawal agreement</h2>
<p>In March 2018, the EU and UK jointly published a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691366/20180319_DRAFT_WITHDRAWAL_AGREEMENT.pdf">draft withdrawal agreement</a>. The section on citizens’ rights, which was entirely agreed by both sides, suggested that a number of residency rights for EU citizens and their families, whether EU citizens or not, would be protected and continue <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32004L0038">in the same way</a> as they currently exist under EU law. This reciprocally covers EU citizens living in the UK and British citizens in the EU.</p>
<p>However, a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/joint_report.pdf">joint report on the progress of negotiations</a> published in December 2017 had included a key caveat: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. This means that if no deal is reached between the EU and UK, the draft withdrawal agreement would not apply and anything previously agreed in it would not be binding.</p>
<p>In this case, both EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in the EU would be left in a precarious position. In fact, <a href="http://www.senat.fr/leg/pjl18-009.html">a draft law</a> currently going through the French parliament would potentially allow visas to be imposed on British citizens visiting France if the UK exits without a deal. </p>
<h2>Settled status</h2>
<p>In July 2018, the Home Office published its <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/718237/EU_Settlement_Scheme_SOI_June_2018.pdf">guidance on a new EU citizen settlement scheme</a>, which all EU citizens in the UK will need to apply for to secure their right to stay in the UK after Brexit. It was advertised as a straightforward online process with <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44553225">three “simple” steps</a> that applicants must satisfy in order to qualify. </p>
<p>In September 2018, the pilot scheme was rolled out and an <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/752872/181031_PB1_Report_Final.pdf">initial report on the first stage</a> of testing declared it a success. However, this was contradicted by the fact that the Home Office itself admitted that the app created to manage the settlement applications <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/24/app-eu-citizens-get-uk-residency-brexit-wont-work-apple-phones/">will not work on Apple phones</a>. </p>
<p>The system doesn’t rely on there being a deal reached, so it is possible that in the event of a no-deal, the UK government may still decide to continue with it. Still, there are outstanding issues <a href="https://theconversation.com/eu-citizens-what-settled-status-after-brexit-really-means-a-legal-expert-explains-97810">with the EU settlement scheme</a>, separate from those posed by a no-deal scenario, and some have expressed concern that it <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-eu-citizens-at-risk-of-failing-to-secure-settled-status-after-brexit-94947">will be difficult</a> for vulnerable EU citizens to apply. </p>
<p>In September, the Prime Minister Theresa May <a href="https://rightsinfo.org/no-deal-rights/">guaranteed</a> that the rights of EU citizens in the UK will be protected in the event of a no-deal scenario. </p>
<p>But will the EU settlement scheme be abandoned in such a scenario? If so, then those who are not able to claim permanent residency by living in the UK for five years consecutively before March 29 2019 could potentially find themselves at risk of deportation. This raises a whole host of <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2958113">human rights issues</a>, mostly related to interferences to private and family life.</p>
<h2>Ending free movement</h2>
<p>The biggest remaining question is when exactly free movement of EU citizens to the UK will end if no specific Brexit deal is reached. Under the terms of the transition period agreed with the EU, it would end after December 2020, meaning any EU citizen arriving to live in the UK until then would be guaranteed the right to stay. But when asked in parliament on November 5 what would happen in the event of a no-deal the government was <a href="https://goo.gl/UtbCcQ">unable to answer</a> whether free movement would immediately cease on March 30 2019.</p>
<p>Though this important question has been asked many times since <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/oct/31/eu-prepares-for-a-no-deal-brexit-amid-lack-of-progress-on-talks">no-deal became more likely</a>, the closer March 29 2019 draws, the more urgently an answer is needed. </p>
<p>Deal or no-deal, the UK government needs to clarify its position on EU citizens’ rights after Brexit as mistakes like those made by Nokes do nothing to reassure those affected, who need to make decisions about their futures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106549/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrienne Yong has consulted for The3Million campaign group. She receives funding from the City Pump Priming Scheme for a project entitled 'The Brexit effect on the private and family lives of EU citizens in the UK'.</span></em></p>There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding EU citizens’ rights in the event of a no-deal Brexit.Adrienne Yong, Lecturer at The City Law School, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1025212018-09-04T11:28:05Z2018-09-04T11:28:05ZIt’s too early to talk of a ‘Brexodus’ – doing so ignores how many EU migrants have made Britain their home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234771/original/file-20180904-45143-6p8q3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Big decisions. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/380564566?src=YpOVNK8acEEjjYz425DuHw-1-2&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the deadline for a final Brexit deal approaches, close attention is being paid to statistics on the number of EU citizens living in Britain. In late August, after the Office for National Statistics published its latest <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/migrationstatisticsquarterlyreportprovisionallongterminternationalmigrationltimestimates">long-term international migration estimates</a>, news <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/23/net-migration-from-eu-to-uk-at-lowest-level-since-december-2012?CMP=share_btn_link">reports</a> continued to talk of a “Brexodus” – the exodus of EU citizens from the UK ahead of Brexit. But such commentary, which is mirrored in <a href="https://theconversation.com/brexodus-of-eu-citizens-from-the-uk-is-picking-up-speed-92089">academic debate</a>, is overblown and it’s symptomatic of the assumptions made about how mobile the EU migrants who’ve made their homes in Britain actually are.</p>
<p>Brexit has provoked high levels of uncertainty about the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/conditioning-familylife-at-the-intersection-of-migration-and-welfare-the-implications-for-brexit-families/C0CF897BC9AB22FE6A7D115322B71B47#fndtn-information">future rights of EU citizens and their families</a>. While the draft <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/status-of-eu-nationals-in-the-uk-what-you-need-to-know#history">Withdrawal Agreement</a> between the UK and the European Commission may have allayed some of those fears, the first batch of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-to-prepare-if-the-uk-leaves-the-eu-with-no-deal">government’s “no-deal Brexit” papers</a> was silent on whether this agreement, and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families">Settlement Scheme</a> that implements it, would still stand in the event of no deal. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eu-citizens-what-settled-status-after-brexit-really-means-a-legal-expert-explains-97810">EU citizens: what settled status after Brexit really means – a legal expert explains</a>
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<p>Meanwhile, a recent inquiry <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/wp-content/uploads/understanding-the-difference-the-initial-police-response-to-hate-crime.pdf">predicted</a> that reported hate crimes against migrants, which <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652136/hate-crime-1617-hosb1717.pdf">increased</a> at the time of the referendum, could spike again around the point of the UK’s exit from the EU in March 2019.</p>
<p>The narrative of “Brexodus”, however, is far from accurate in capturing how EU citizen migrants are responding to this situation. As the latest estimates indicate, EU net migration – the number of people leaving subtracted from the number arriving – has fallen. At 87,000 it is now at its lowest level since 2012, and far below its peak of 189,000 in the year ending June 2016. But, the decline in the number of EU citizens arriving in the UK accounts for more of the fall in net migration than does a rise in the number leaving. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234643/original/file-20180903-41726-1har8ba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234643/original/file-20180903-41726-1har8ba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234643/original/file-20180903-41726-1har8ba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234643/original/file-20180903-41726-1har8ba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234643/original/file-20180903-41726-1har8ba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234643/original/file-20180903-41726-1har8ba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234643/original/file-20180903-41726-1har8ba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">UK net migration by citizenship from year ending June 2008 to year ending March 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/migrationstatisticsquarterlyreport/august2018#migration-patterns-for-eu-and-non-eu-citizens">Long-Term International Migration, Office for National Statistics</a></span>
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<p>The number of EU citizens leaving the UK in the year ending March 2018 was 138,000. According to the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/migrationstatisticsquarterlyreportprovisionallongterminternationalmigrationltimestimates">ONS</a> this number has: “Remained stable following a previous increase between the years ending September 2015 and September 2017.” So, we are not seeing a pattern of departures implied by the narrative of “Brexodus”. </p>
<p><iframe id="PwiMW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PwiMW/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Outflows are also very different depending on which countries EU citizens come from. Between the year ending March 2017 and that ending March 2018, there was a 21% increase in the number of departures among EU15 nationals – referring to the <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6805">15 member states</a> of the EU until enlargement in 2004 – and a 19% increase in the number of departures of EU2 nationals, from Romania and Bulgaria. However, the increase in the number of departures of citizens from EU8 countries – those countries including Poland and Hungary which joined in 2004 – was significantly lower, at 4%. </p>
<p>EU citizen migrants are also <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2018-data-tables">applying for UK citizenship</a> in increasing numbers: with over 11,000 applications in each of the first two quarters of 2018. This is the highest on record and around 2,000 more than in the respective periods in 2017.</p>
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<p>The “Brexodus” narrative doesn’t capture these nuances and complexity because it is based on an inaccurate construction of migration under EU freedom of movement as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24371603?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">“super mobile”</a>. The assumption is that when circumstances change, people move on. The same assumption informs the UK government’s construction of EU migrants – as with migrants in general – as mobile and disposable, and the “Brexodus” narrative simply reinforces this.</p>
<h2>Left to feel like ‘a floating log’</h2>
<p>Our research is indicating, however, that there is a dissonance between migrants’ experiences and the assumptions being built into migration policy. EU migrants in the UK are rarely continually mobile, and despite the unsettling force Brexit presents to their personal and family biographies, <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2017/05/22/eu-citizens-in-the-uk-after-the-shock-comes-the-strategy-to-secure-status/">moving on is not necessarily an option</a>. </p>
<p>Brexit is clearly a potentially destabilising force in the lives of the 3m or so EU citizens resident in the UK. This was clear from a public <a href="https://discoversociety.org/2017/12/15/not-one-of-you-any-longer-eu-nationals-brexit-uncertainty-and-mistrust/">Q&A event</a> attended by 70 people in Sheffield on Brexit and the rights of EU nationals, which we helped organise in November 2017. Of those attending, 37 people from 14 different countries contributed written responses to the question: “What is your main concern for EU nationals in the UK after Brexit?”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-eus-rules-on-free-movement-allow-all-its-citizens-to-do-62186">What the EU's rules on free movement allow all its citizens to do</a>
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<p>One participant from Germany wrote: “Moving back to one’s home country is by no means straightforward due to housing issues, finding qualified work, getting into health insurance, transfer savings without double taxation.” While another participant, also from Germany wrote: “The UK makes me feel like a visitor but I have been here so long that the country of my origin is strange to me.”</p>
<p>For many, the Brexit process has provoked a deep sense of insecurity. As one person wrote: “It feels like being a floating log in the middle of the ocean.”</p>
<p>A more sophisticated way to understand how Brexit is influencing the decision-making of EU citizen migrants is needed than simply labelling it a “Brexodus”. Such an approach needs to acknowledge that decisions are shaped by inter-connected economic, political and personal considerations. Family relationships and <a href="https://theconversation.com/polish-grandparents-face-uncertain-family-future-after-brexit-80993">responsibilities</a> across the life course also influence migration or settling strategies. So it’s key that analysis of migration trends in the months and years to come go beyond the numbers to examine the multilayered processes and considerations likely to inform migrants’ decisions to move or stay.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Majella Kilkey receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, the European Commission and the Noble Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Ryan receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>What migration figures really tell us about the movement of people.Majella Kilkey, Reader in Social Policy, University of SheffieldLouise Ryan, Professor of Sociology, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1007102018-08-22T10:38:00Z2018-08-22T10:38:00ZFear mounts as Roma prepare to apply for post-Brexit settled status in the UK<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232926/original/file-20180821-149484-1957atk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1110309053?src=CVevWrDfLnuLzYZNnV5gew-1-18&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Anxiety is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/02/roma-communities-fear-deportation-in-post-brexit-britain">growing among Roma people</a> from elsewhere in the EU about their lives in the UK after Brexit. The British government has announced a registration scheme for all EU citizens who arrive in the UK before December 31, 2020 to apply for a pathway to a new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/applying-for-settled-status">“settled status”</a>. Although the government’s plan aims for simplicity, many Roma who I’ve spoken to as part of my research fear that limited literacy and the inability to independently complete the application will prevent them from securing their right to reside in the UK. </p>
<p>It’s telling that Roma who arrived in the UK prior to the EU accession of Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary in 2004 and Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, primarily <a href="http://www.errc.org/roma-rights-journal/roma-from-central-and-eastern-europe-continue-to-seek-asylum-in-the-west">claimed asylum upon entry</a>. Discrimination and abuse against this much maligned ethnic group runs rampant in Eastern Europe, taking the form of <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/03/slovakia-unlawful-ethnic-segregation-in-schools-is-failing-romani-children/">segregation in schools</a>, <a href="http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/poverty-and-employment-situation-roma-11-eu-member-states">exclusion from employment</a> and <a href="http://www.errc.org/news/brutal-racist-skinhead-assault-leaves-young-slovak-rom-in-a-coma">physical violence</a>.</p>
<p>Those Roma who have come to the UK with EU free movement rights have reported that the diversity of UK society <a href="https://www.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1155608/SRV-Final-Report-Dec-2016.pdf">allows them to blend in</a> and escape the stigmatisation of their identity that is <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468796814542182">so common in their countries of origin</a>. Yet this sense of security has been put under strain with the Brexit vote. </p>
<p>My wider PhD research among grassroots Roma organisations focuses on their experiences of using health services, yet in the years since the Brexit vote the migrant identity of UK Roma communities and its impact on their personal well-being has become inseparable from my overall focus on their interactions with the NHS. A set of extra focus groups I organised in July 2018 to discuss Roma community members’ concerns about the settlement process for EU citizens revealed a picture of fear and uncertainty. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eu-citizens-what-settled-status-after-brexit-really-means-a-legal-expert-explains-97810">EU citizens: what settled status after Brexit really means – a legal expert explains</a>
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<h2>A sense of desperation</h2>
<p>The application for <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/718237/EU_Settlement_Scheme_SOI_June_2018.pdf">settled status</a> consists of an online form, which requires applicants to supply proof of identity and residence. The Roma I spoke to were overwhelmingly doubtful of their ability to independently complete the application. For a community with <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/research/pdf/EURoma.pdf">low levels of educational attainment</a> and high rates of functional and <a href="http://www.insticc.org/node/TechnicalProgram/csedu/presentationDetails/68068">digital illiteracy</a>, even the simplest of online forms can be completely inaccessible. </p>
<p>It’s still unclear what level of assistance the Home Office will afford applicants facing language and literacy barriers. Members of the Roma community foresee dire personal consequences arising from this potential lack of support. One Roma man from Poland told me many will hope to get help from trusted voluntary organisations to complete the application. But the Home Office hasn’t clarified the extent of accreditation that will be necessary for organisations to assist with settlement applications, and organisations without accreditation as providers of immigration advice could be excluded from offering assistance. </p>
<p>From the perspective of the Roma, this raises the fundamental issue of trust. A Roma woman, also from Poland, told me:</p>
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<p>Probably, because it’s the Home Office, people will be scared to do anything.</p>
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<p>Roma in Eastern Europe have long been <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/persecution-and-politicization-roma-gypsies-eastern-europe">disadvantaged at the hands of bureaucratic processes</a>, and many still fear that engagement with government officials will result in challenges to their basic rights. They are unlikely to engage with formal Home Office advice mechanisms, and without access to support from a trusted source, there is a danger that many Roma will choose to forego the settlement application altogether. This could plunge them into a state of unauthorised immigration. </p>
<h2>Proving ‘suitability’</h2>
<p>There is pervasive fear among the Roma that extreme marginalisation in their countries of origin will impact negatively on the Home Office’s assessment of their applications for settlement. The prospect of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/applying-for-settled-status">overseas criminal records checks</a> crystallises this concern. Roma in
Eastern Europe are often subject to <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317072164/chapters/10.4324%2F9781315603391-14">routine and unjust criminalisation</a>, yet it is unlikely that Home Office assessments of criminality will take into account the social context of Roma applicants’ criminal records. In this vein, one Roma man from Romania said: </p>
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<p>Roma have been like slaves, and Roma inherited what their parents and grandparents had, then communists took everything off them. So the social environment forced people to do some things so that they could survive. Now, here, they’ve had the opportunity to do something better, and they’ve done, and the Home Office shouldn’t look at what’s happening in those countries. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The stakes are high. It’s not clear yet what will happen to those who miss the June 30, 2021 application deadline for settled status. Other grounds for refusal <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2018/06/26/not-settled-yet-questions-the-home-office-has-yet-to-answer-about-eu-citizens-status/">remain unclear</a>. Many Roma who I’ve spoken to said that they fear deportation back to discriminatory and abusive conditions in their countries of origin.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-eu-citizens-at-risk-of-failing-to-secure-settled-status-after-brexit-94947">The EU citizens at risk of failing to secure 'settled status' after Brexit</a>
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<p>The Home Office must urgently consider the potential human rights implications of its settled status scheme for vulnerable migrant groups, and offer greater transparency about the mechanisms of how immigration advice is provided and the criteria on which applications will be assessed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Zawacki works for Roma Support Group. </span></em></p>Roma are worried they may not meet all the requirements necessary to secure ‘settled status’ in the UK after Brexit.Sarah Zawacki, PhD Candidate, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/978102018-06-22T13:02:38Z2018-06-22T13:02:38ZEU citizens: what settled status after Brexit really means – a legal expert explains<p>The process for approximately 3.5m EU citizens currently living in the UK to apply for a new “settled status” after Brexit has now become clearer, after the Home Office <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/718237/EU_Settlement_Scheme_SOI_June_2018.pdf">published details</a> of the scheme. But there are still some issues that EU citizens will need to watch out for. </p>
<p>There are four steps to a successful settlement scheme application:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A digital application form </p></li>
<li><p>Fee of £65, or £32.50 for children</p></li>
<li><p>Proof of identity/nationality</p></li>
<li><p>A photo</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There are a further <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44553225">three “simple” requirements</a> to satisfy the settlement scheme: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Proof of identity</p></li>
<li><p>Proof of eligibility</p></li>
<li><p>Proof of suitability</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Eligibility looks at whether the EU citizen is a resident in the UK, or if they are actually a family member of an EU citizen. Suitability is a criminal background check to ensure the individual is not a threat to public security.</p>
<h2>Settled and pre-settled status</h2>
<p>The official date of withdrawal – March 29, 2019 – is not the deadline for accruing the five years needed for permanent residency. Instead, if EU citizens and their families have been continuously resident in the UK for five years by December 31, 2020 – the end of the Brexit implementation period – then they will be able to apply for settled status. This is equivalent to permanent residency. </p>
<p>Pre-settled status is for EU citizens and family who have not lived in the UK for five years on December 31, 2020. They can continue to live in Britain until they reach the five years, then apply to change their pre-settled to settled status for no fee. They do still need to apply for pre-settled status in order to be eligible for settled status.</p>
<p>Both schemes include EU citizens’ family members, including family members who join EU citizens in the UK before the end of 2020. They also cover family who join after that date, if the EU citizen that the family member is joining was already resident in the UK, and they had a relationship before this date which continues. Both schemes also cover future children of those with settled or pre-settled status.</p>
<p>Once a person gets settled status, they can be away from the UK for a total of five consecutive years. After this, the status will lapse, so it’s something that needs to be maintained.</p>
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<p>The deadline set by the Home Office for all these applications to be made is June 30, 2021, six months after the end of the implementation period. The home secretary, Sajid Javid, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/718237/EU_Settlement_Scheme_SOI_June_2018.pdf">promised</a> that “EU citizens and their family members do not need to do anything immediately” because their rights do not change until the end of 2020.</p>
<p>However, those EU citizens who currently have permanent residency or indefinite leave to remain (ILR) are in slightly better positions. They will still have to follow the administrative procedures, but they do not have to pay a fee to exchange their current permanent residency or ILR for settled status. EU citizens who will have been in the country for five years by December 31, 2020 are also in a slightly better position. They automatically avoid the bureaucracy of having to apply twice – once for pre-settled, then again for settled status. </p>
<h2>Possible teething problems</h2>
<p>Before the Home Office published details of the scheme, concerns had already been <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-eu-citizens-at-risk-of-failing-to-secure-settled-status-after-brexit-94947">expressed over people</a> who may be at risk of failing to secure the new status, including how to address “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-brexit-deal-means-for-eu-citizens-and-their-families-88901">grey areas</a>” which often involve the residency status of non-economically active citizens. </p>
<p>The government has also been criticised because the app designed for the settled status application process <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/24/app-eu-citizens-get-uk-residency-brexit-wont-work-apple-phones/">does not currently work on Apple devices</a>.</p>
<p>In my <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2958113">research</a> on protection of the right to private and family life of EU citizens in the UK post-Brexit, I note some gaps in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691366/20180319_DRAFT_WITHDRAWAL_AGREEMENT.pdf">Draft Withdrawal Agreement</a> between the UK and EU, published in March 2018. The new document from the Home Office does add some helpful details, especially on how exactly settlement will work. </p>
<p>It resolves the issue of people known as “<a href="https://www.freemovement.org.uk/surinder-singh-immigration-route/">Surinder Singh</a>” returners: EU nationals and their families who initially left their home member state to exercise their rights to free movement under EU law, and later want to return home. <a href="http://www.jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/04/19/surinder-singh-and-family-unity">Singh</a> was an Indian national, married to a British national, who lived in Germany. When he moved back to the UK with his wife, the marriage subsequently broke down and he was threatened with deportation but won his case. Such people have now also been guaranteed rights after Brexit. This means if that a non-EU citizen married to a Briton, currently living elsewhere in the EU, were to return to the UK within the scheme’s time limitation, that non-EU citizen would also qualify for settlement.</p>
<p>Still, there are a number of other issues that still haven’t been addressed. The status of people known as “<a href="http://www.nrpfnetwork.org.uk/Documents/Zambrano-Factsheet.pdf">Zambrano</a>” carers – a non-EU citizen who is the primary carer of an EU citizen – is yet to be determined. This includes non-EU parents of EU citizens. Zambrano was a Colombian national with two children who attained Belgian nationality because they were born in Belgium. He was eventually granted residency on the basis that without his care, the children – who were EU citizens – would not be able to remain in the EU. </p>
<p>Another troubling part of the settlement scheme is its provisions on criminality checks. They do not currently comply with EU <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/legal_service/arrets/09c145_en.pdf">case law</a> applying <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:158:0077:0123:EN:PDF">Article 28, Directive 2004/38</a> which protects EU citizens against expulsion. The Court of Justice of the EU states that having a criminal background should not automatically mean someone is a threat to public security – one of the ways deportation can be justified.</p>
<p>Protection from deportation is another missing piece of the puzzle. The Home Office settlement document sets out plans to allow deportation under EU law before the implementation period expires, and for deportation subject to the UK’s Immigration Rules after that. In the past, the UK has <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uk-can-no-longer-remove-eu-citizens-for-sleeping-rough-why-this-matters-for-brexit-89463">not been shy</a> about breaching EU rules on deportations. After the implementation period, it could get worse for EU citizens, as section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 will apply to them. This states that subject to some <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-part-13-deportation">exceptions</a>, a foreign criminal can be automatically deported. What this means is that despite having settled status, EU citizens could still be deported.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-britain-can-deport-eu-citizens-according-to-the-law-86896">When Britain can deport EU citizens – according to the law</a>
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<p>There are also questions about the “three simple requirements” for settlement, and how applicants can prove this. Eligibility relies on data taken from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This places emphasis on workers, and could make the process more difficult for non-workers, such as the elderly or disabled individuals. Any data held by the HMRC or DWP on these non-workers are more likely to be records of their benefit claims, if any. Given the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30002138">UK’s stance towards benefit tourism</a> in the past, it’s unclear whether this could have an impact on proving eligibility under the settlement process.</p>
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<p>While it is commendable that the UK has made some way towards fulfilling its promise of guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens in the UK after Brexit, it appears there are still some people they are unhappy to keep in their territory after Brexit. It’s unclear what would happen to those who miss the deadline. As these are not minor risks, it’s something Javid and the Home Office should keep thinking about.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrienne Yong has consulted for The3Million campaign group. She receives funding from City Pump Priming Scheme on a research project about the post-Brexit effect on the right to private and family life of EU citizens in the UK.</span></em></p>Details have been published of how EU citizens in the UK can apply for ‘settled status’ after Brexit. But it may have some teething problems.Adrienne Yong, Lecturer at The City Law School, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/949472018-04-13T11:35:40Z2018-04-13T11:35:40ZThe EU citizens at risk of failing to secure ‘settled status’ after Brexit<p>The government has committed to ensuring that all EU citizens living in the UK will still have the right to do so after Brexit. Our latest <a href="http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/reports/unsettled-status-which-eu-citizens-are-at-risk-of-failing-to-secure-their-rights-after-brexit/">research</a> from the Migration Observatory says that in practice, it won’t be that easy. </p>
<p>Most of the 3.6m EU citizens and their family members should have no trouble navigating the simplified process that the government has proposed. The current, pre-Brexit, application process for permanent residence <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2119a554-fce6-11e6-96f8-3700c5664d30">has been much criticised</a> for its complexity – with an 85-page application form and obscure requirements such as private health cover for students, which many EU citizens didn’t realise they had to meet.</p>
<p>In response, the government is <a href="http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Report-Settled_Status.pdf">proposing something</a> much simpler. The fiddly criteria that contributed to high rejections of EU permanent residence applications in the past are expected to be dropped, and people will simply need to have been resident in the UK to qualify. The new process will be simple and easy and most applicants will be able to rely on information the government already holds about them – such as tax records – rather than having to track down the paperwork themselves. EU citizens living in the UK are on average a highly educated population who should not have trouble getting this done.</p>
<p>Still, our report report identifies groups of people who could nonetheless be at risk of not securing “settled status” despite the proposed simplified system. </p>
<h2>Awareness and access</h2>
<p>A potentially significant number of people may not be aware that they can and need to apply. This includes, for example, children – particularly those whose parents do not themselves apply, do not realise that children need to apply, or mistakenly believe that their UK-born children are automatically UK citizens. There are over 700,000 EU national children currently living in the UK. In addition, people who have been in the UK for decades – our <a href="http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Report-Settled_Status.pdf">analysis</a> suggests there are 146,000 non-Irish EU citizens who arrived at least 30 years ago – may not realise that they too are affected.</p>
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<p>Some people may also believe they are ineligible or fear being rejected. This could include people previously rejected for permanent residence under the existing, more restrictive system, or people with minor criminal convictions or cautions.</p>
<p>Applications may be more difficult where people are already vulnerable or have reduced autonomy for some reason. For example, victims of domestic abuse, particularly if they rely on a partner for evidence, could struggle to complete the process. An <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/crimeinenglandandwalesyearendingmarch2017">estimated 50,000 EU citizen women</a> reported experiencing some form of abuse – either once or repeatedly – in the year ending March 2017. Other vulnerable groups include children in care and people with mental health problems. By their nature, such groups are difficult to quantify and the types and severity of the barriers they face will vary.</p>
<p>Some may need help completing an application, for example due to language barriers. In 2015, according to our analysis of the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/surveys/informationforhouseholdsandindividuals/householdandindividualsurveys/labourforcesurveylfs">Labour Force Survey</a>, around 250,000 non-Irish EU nationals reported language difficulties in keeping or finding work. Age and disability may also come into play – EU citizens are a relatively young population but an estimated 56,000 were age 75 or above in 2017. As may digital exclusion; in early 2017 an estimated 2% or 64,000 non-Irish EU citizens said that they had never used the internet.</p>
<h2>The right documents</h2>
<p>Some people could have difficulty demonstrating that they have been living in the UK. Most EU citizens won’t need to, as there will be tax or benefits records that the government already holds. The government has also said that for people without those records, it will expand the types of documents that can be provided. But a small core of people may have left very little paper trail. An estimated 3.4% of people age 18 and over in the UK don’t have bank accounts, according to <a href="http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Report-Settled_Status.pdf">data we requested</a> from the Office for National Statistics. This suggests that their lives are lived primarily in cash. If the share is the same for all citizenships, this would be equivalent to just over 90,000 non-Irish EU citizen adults.</p>
<p>Some people will not have basic identity documents proving who they are. At the time of the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census">2011 Census</a>, 100,000 or 5% of EU-born residents of England and Wales said they didn’t hold a passport – though we don’t know what share of these people will have a national ID card, which would also be accepted.</p>
<p>Simply having one of the characteristics identified in our research does not mean that a person will fail to secure settled status. People are likely to face greater difficulties if there is a combination of factors. </p>
<p>Arguably the biggest challenge of all this, if the government aims for comprehensive take-up of settled status, is awareness about the need to apply. There are some large groups of people who would not normally be classified as “vulnerable” but who may not realise that they need to apply, from children to very long-term residents. There will also be people who simply forget or delay their application until after the deadline expires. </p>
<p>If a significant number don’t apply, enforcing a strict deadline would increase the illegally resident EU-national population in the UK. As a result, perhaps one of the most important unresolved policy questions is exactly what will happen for people who do not apply by the deadline.</p>
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<p><em>This article has also been published by <a href="http://ukandeu.ac.uk/">The UK in a Changing Europe</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94947/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeleine Sumption receives funding from the ESRC UK in a Changing Europe initiative, Trust for London, the Barrow Cadbury Trust, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.</span></em></p>All EU citizens living in the UK will need to register after Brexit. But some may find it difficult to do so.Madeleine Sumption, Director, Migration Observatory, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.