The Home Office is now advising EU nationals to sign up for Government email alerts rather than applying for residence documents as proof of status. The guidance was issued on 7 April 2017 and is a tacit admission that the Home Office is overwhelmed b ...

The question of what rights are enjoyed by an EU citizen who naturalises as a British citizen and becomes a dual citizen has become a critically important one in the context of Brexit. There is huge uncertainty amongst EU citizens and their family mem ...

In a written Parliamentary answer yesterday the Government stated self sufficient or studying EU citizens without comprehensive sickness insurance (CSI) are “not lawfully resident” in the UK and “may be liable for removal” but ...

The Court of Appeal has held that the Upper Tribunal has been wrong all along about proxy marriages and EU law. The case is Awuku v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 178 and it overrules the earlier tribunal cases of Kareem ( ...

In the case of R (on the application of Akturk) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 297 (Admin) a Turkish wannabe window cleaner entered the UK as a visitor and then applied for leave to remain to establish his window cleaning bus ...

“EU citizens will not be removed from the UK or refused entry solely because they do not have comprehensive sickness insurance,” said a spokesman. Very welcome news but it is difficult to understand the Home Office’s legal position on all t ...

Summary The Home Office has hardened its position on EU citizens who are living in the UK but who do not have a “right of residence” under Directive 2004/38/EC. New regulations were introduced on 1 February 2017 and a swathe of policy doc ...

With thanks to Unbound Philanthropy for the funding, I have been able to put together a series of ebook guides aimed at EU and EEA nationals wanting to apply for residence documents here in the UK. They are updated and expanded versions of my existing ...

Brexit is causing significant delays in the processing of EU free movement documentation applications. In normal times, before the Brexit vote on 23 June 2016, an EU national could expect a permanent residence certificate to be issued in about 6 ...

By Matthew Evans, Director, AIRE Centre Introduction The rights of EEA nationals (plus Swiss) to reside in the UK are primarily addressed in the Citizens Directive (Directive 2004/38/EC) which is implemented in the United Kingdom in the Immigration ( ...

By Bernard Ryan, Professor of Migration Law, University of Leicester Introduction This paper is concerned with the possibility of a post-Brexit right to remain for those residing in the United Kingdom under EU law on the free movement of persons.[i] ...

A raft of new Home Office policies and forms for EU and EEA nationals was released in early February, along with significant changes to the online application process. These changes accompany the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, ...

Short version: not a lot we did not know already Long version… Yesterday, the day after MPs began the process of the UK leaving the EU, the Government published a White Paper on Brexit. The formal title is The United Kingdom’s exit from and ne ...

The Supreme Court ruled today by a majority of 8-3 that an Act of Parliament is needed for the UK Government to trigger Article 50 and formally begin the process of leaving the EU. Giving the leading judgment the President of the Court, Lord Neuberger ...

Short answer: yes, at least for now. Long answer… From 1 February 2017 it seems likely that it will be mandatory to use the official application forms for EEA residence document applications, either online or on paper, that are provided by the H ...

EU citizens wanting to apply for proof of their right of permanent residence in the UK currently have to cut through spools of red tape. The unnecessary bureaucracy defeats some, who are wrongly being told by the Home Office that they must leave th ...

Following hot on the heels of the hardline British Future report on the rights of EU nationals in the UK after Brexit, the House of Lords EU Justice Committee has today published a report on the same subject. It is a far more comprehensive and compreh ...

A hardline report chaired by prominent Leave campaigner Gisela Stewart into the status of EU nationals in the UK has recommended a cut off date for new arrivals from the EU, likely to be April 2017, and a massive registration programme for existing E ...

After a hard BREXIT: British citizens and residence in the EU By Elspeth Guild, Kingsley Napley, Steve Peers, University of Essex and Jonathan Kingham, LexisNexis, 3 November 2016 Introduction The purpose of this briefing note is to outline what a so- ...

New Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 were laid today, coming into force mainly from 1 February 2017. The new version is mainly a consolidating exercise — the 2006 regulations has been amended and reamended over and over agai ...

Many thanks to everyone who recorded and sent in questions for the Brexit podcast. I have not been able to answer all the questions that were submitted but I have selected a few that I think are of general interest as a way of addressing some of ...

To acquire EU rights of residence and ultimately permanent residence, a person usually has to engage in certain activities: employment, self employment, study or being self sufficient. There are other criteria as well, but these are the four key ways ...

UPDATE: Use of official application forms (paper or online) is mandatory from 1 February 2017. See new post: Can the Home Office force EU nationals to use the official 85 page permanent residence application form? In a useful policy document explainin ...

The British Nationality Act 1981 requires a successful applicant for British citizenship to show, amongst other things, that he or she is free from immigration restrictions. Technically, the requirement is set out in paragraph 2(c) of Schedule 1 to th ...

The Home Office has quietly and with no fanfare launched online residence certificate and permanent residence certificate application processes and accompanying European passport return service. I have put together a 20 minute video walk through of wh ...

In two linked cases, CS v UK C-304/14 and Marin v Spain C-165/14, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Zambrano-like derived rights of residence under EU law are not automatically lost if a crime is committed. Instead, each case m ...

Two recent cases in the Administrative Appeals Chamber of the Upper Tribunal have clarified when a worker might in EU law retain his or her status as a worker during a period of unemployment. The cases are KS v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions ...