BREXIT: Immigration Rules for EU Citizens set to Change Again

Our team of immigration solicitors London confirm that after the most recent political developments on Brexit in Westminister which have no doubt caused even more confusion, the UK Government is set to once again change its stance on EU immigration to the UK and is going to liberalise the rules regarding their residency in the country after a possible no-deal Brexit.

Reports this morning from the BBC and the Independent newspaper state that instead of shutting down the policy of free movement of people after October 31st, the Home Office will actually be starting a 3 year “leave to remain” scheme for EU citizens who move to the UK and join the EU settlement scheme before the 31st December 2020.

This important change in UK immigration law and policy aimed specifically at EU nationals is contrary to what was announced some weeks ago and represents less of a hardline approach than what was suggested by Priti Patel i.e. ending free movement completely in case of a no-deal scenario on October 31st 2019.

Immigration solicitors state that the reasons surrounding yet another change on EU immigration stem from the fact that ending free movement on October 31st 2019 could have made the government subject to a legal challenge from the 3.5 million EU citizens living in the UK.

Home Secretary, Priti Patel’s hardline stance some weeks ago has been criticised highly by pressure groups and a large portion of the general public who are both British and European. The Home Office today enforced that their concrete plans will be laid out in due course (set to become official next Wednesday) but there is a rise in uncertainty amongst EU Citizens about the EU Settlement Scheme where many people claim that the system so far has not proven to reliable resulting in numerous denied applications alongside a whole array of practical problems.

Moreover, campaigners have stated their concerns about how the Home Office is eager to take rapid steps to help high net worth EU citizens achieve their pre-settled or settled status. An example of this is the case of celebrity Michelin star chef Fred Sirieix (stars in Channel 4’s First Dates) who tweeted “Is this a joke?” at Home Secretary Priti Patel after he was asked to demonstrate five years of continuous residence in the UK whilst applying through the EU  Scheme. Fred received a phone call from the Home Office within 12 hours stating that a mistake had been made and then received a confirmation email which said he had been granted “settled status”. The difference is Fred is a celebrity, obviously makes a lot of money and has a large platform on social media with +100k followers and 1000 retweets on his tweet that confronted the Home Office, normal EU citizens do not have this luxury and it goes without saying that that it is unlikely the Home Office will be helping them in the same way.

How can Gulbenkian Andonian Solicitors help?

Our team of immigration lawyers can help you with your EU Settlement Scheme Application and have decades of experience dealing with the UK Home Office. We can handle your whole application process for you so it causes you no stress, hassle or uncertainty.