LONDON – Approximately 500,000 EU nationals in Britain are yet to apply for a new immigration status to remain in UK post Brexit.
After exiting the bloc last week, the government is introducing the UK’s biggest border control shake-up in decades, reducing the priority which was previously given to EU migrants over other international countries.
According to government statistics, around 3 million EU citizens and their families have applied for “settled status” which grants them permission from the government to remain in Britain.
These numbers underline the volumes of people applying for the scheme launched nationally in March 2019. It also highlighted the challenge that lays ahead for the government to ensure the correct application by all EU citizens.
UK’s Interior Minister Priti Patel was pleased with the response and urged EU nationals to put in a similar effort to ensure the status of British nationals in their countries post-Brexit.
Patel said that this was the biggest scheme of its kind and it’s time for EU countries to adopt a scheme similar to the one in place in the UK.
Over 3.5 million European citizens live in the UK and get a period of at least 11 months to apply for settled status.
Lawyers claim that several EU citizens could fall through the net and lose rights like healthcare despite being lawfully in the country.
Of the applications processed so far, 58% were given settled status and 41% were granted pre-settled status, giving them temporary permission to remain in the UK and reapply after five years.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.
