Proposals to introduce “settled status” for EU citizens

As the UK’s talks with the EU finally get underway, Government plans were unveiled this week to grant EU citizens “settled status” post-Brexit.

As detailed in a 15-page policy paper on the Gov.uk website, Safeguarding the position of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU, qualifying EU citizens will be able to apply for residence status. To qualify, the paper states that “the EU citizen must have been resident in the UK before a specified date and must have completed a period of five years’ continuous residence in the UK before they apply for settled status, at which point they must still be resident”. The specified date is presently yet to be confirmed.

After this date, there will be a limited period of time (estimated to be up to 2 years) in which those already living in the UK will be able to apply for either temporary residency or settled status. This limit has been applied to enable to government to cope with demand and avoid a “cliff edge”, according to the paper.

Those wishing to remain in the UK after that time, regardless of when they arrived, will by law have to apply to the Home Office to obtain a residence document. The paper states that this is because “the Government may wish to introduce controls which limit the ability of EU citizens (and their families) who arrive in the UK after exit to live and work here. As such, without a residence document, current residents may find it difficult to access the labour market and services”.

Meanwhile, the The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has warned that decisions about future UK immigration policy should be based on impartial, expert advice rather than politics to avoid risks to the jobs market and the economy at a time of record employment. 

REC Chief Executive, Kevin Green, said: “Decisions about the future immigration system are too important to be subject to political whim – we need policy to be built on sound evidence and data. This report is a significant contribution to the critical debate on immigration. It shows that businesses need access to people to deliver growth, and that the current UK workforce alone cannot meet demand.

“Designing the post-Brexit immigration system is an enormous task and it cannot happen only in Whitehall. Recruiters are on the frontline of the labour market, and we are ready to work with the government to design and deliver policies that will help the country prosper.”

The UK government’s policy outlines that EU citizens with settled status will continue to have access to UK benefits on the same basis as a comparable UK national under domestic law, while EU citizens arriving before the specified date who do not have five years’ residence at the time of the UK’s exit but who remain legally in the UK on a pathway to settled status will continue to be able to access the same benefits that they can access now (broadly, equal access for workers/the self-employed and limited access for those not working).