All Articles: Brexit

An Albanian national was mistakenly allowed to enter the UK by an immigration officer who used a stamp described by the Home Office Presenting Officer as “a stamp which is regularly encountered, but the use of which is shrouded in mystery”. As a result, he did not meet the requirements...

8th December 2023
BY Sonia Lenegan

If you married an EU national in the UK after 31 December 2020, you can’t get leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme unless you previously had or applied for an EEA residence card or family permit as their durable partner. That remains the case even if you would...

1st August 2023
BY Deborah Revill

The child of an EU national is only entitled to stay in the UK after Brexit if they are under 21 or dependent on their parent, the High Court has held. In reaching this conclusion, the court in R (on the application of Ali) v Secretary of State for the...

7th July 2023
BY Deborah Revill

Before 1 January 2021, British and EU citizens did not require a visa to travel across the Channel on a business trip. This is largely still the case post-Brexit, so we’ve been left with the appearance that nothing has really changed from a legal perspective. But with the end of...

28th March 2022
BY Jack Stokes

In the run-up to Christmas, Santa must be getting ready for his round-the-world trip on the night of 24 December. But this is the first year he will be trying to get in and out of the UK without free movement measures applying. The post-Brexit transition period, extending the application...

3rd December 2021
BY Charlotte O'Brien

Geci (EEA Regs: transitional provisions, appeal rights) Albania [2021] UKUT 285 (IAC) is another appeal under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, but with “highly unusual” facts. Mr Geci had returned to the UK in breach of a deportation order (twice). Rather than seeking to enforce the deportation order,...

26th November 2021
BY Samina Iqbal

For most people, the EU Settlement Scheme has largely lived up to its government billing as generous and straightforward, but confusion over permitted absences is likely to cause some European residents trouble down the line. People with pre-settled status, in particular, need to be aware of the absence rules. If...

22nd June 2021
BY Karma Hickman

Ever since the Brexit vote in June 2016, EU citizens in the United Kingdom have been turning their attention to applications for British citizenship. Foreign nationals who have been living in the UK for five years can apply to “naturalise” as British — but there are other requirements which can...

18th February 2021
BY Iain Halliday

No doubt you will have read about the mudslinging between the UK and EU over the lack of a visa-free deal for touring musicians and entertainers. This has been retweeted and attacked by seemingly every artist you’ve heard of, and even been debated in Parliament. The claims are that the...

28th January 2021
BY Steve Richard

Furious musicians have gathered over 260,000 signatures on a petition to the British government asking for a “Europe-wide visa-free work permit for touring professionals and artists”. In response, the government claims that “during our negotiations, we proposed measures to allow creative professionals to travel and perform in both the UK...

19th January 2021
BY George Peretz

The end of free movement has, for better or worse, given rise to a number of new visa routes catering for workers looking to establish themselves in the UK. Joining their ranks is the frontier worker permit which opened to new applicants on 10 December 2020. Although only open to...

18th January 2021
BY Joanna Hunt

The UK government’s policy is that Brexit will not affect Irish nationals at all. Other EU citizens have to apply for a new “settled status” or risk losing their right to live and work in the UK after June 2021. But the government’s position is that Irish people, whether existing...

20th November 2020
BY Alex Schymyck

On 30 September 2020 the Home Office updated its good character policy for naturalisation to make it even harder for EU nationals to become British citizens.  The new policy doubles the period of time, from five years to ten years, during which certain EU citizens in the UK must have...

7th October 2020
BY John Vassiliou

From next year there will be two categories of EEA national: Those who began their residence in the UK before 31 December 2020; and Those who began their residence in the UK after 31 December 2020. The law a person is subject to will depend on which category they fall into. Family members of...

24th September 2020
BY Iain Halliday

Many eastern European migrant workers don’t know that the EU Settlement Scheme exists, new research suggests. A survey of EU citizens in Cambridgeshire by the Social Market Foundation think tank found that barely half were aware of the Settlement Scheme. Even among those intending to stay in the UK long...

21st September 2020
BY CJ McKinney

The EU Settlement Scheme promised convenience and efficiency for those required to secure their immigration status in the UK after Brexit. Yet statistics retrieved from the Home Office indicate that at least 36,000 applications had faced delays of over three months by October 2019. In this post, we explore what...

2nd June 2020
BY Joe Tomlinson

The Home Office has decided to make it more difficult for European residents to become British citizens. EU citizens with settled status who apply for naturalisation may now have to provide evidence that they have been living in the UK legally, according to an update to government nationality policy released...

18th May 2020
BY CJ McKinney

There is no way of telling how many EU citizens will be left living illegally in the UK because of Brexit, a new report has concluded. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford says that the government doesn’t collect or release the data needed to work out how many...

16th April 2020
BY CJ McKinney

The years since the EU referendum have been an emotional rollercoaster for European citizens in the UK.   Initial shock and disbelief were followed by months of uncertainty and tension as the British government negotiated a transitional agreement – which failed to get parliamentary approval for over a year – and...

27th February 2020
BY Karma Hickman

See this article on applying for settled status after the deadline, which was on 30 June 2021. On 31 January 2020 at 11pm, the United Kingdom left the European Union and entered a transition period, due to end on 31 December 2020. During this transition period, Europeans can continue to...

4th February 2020
BY Nath Gbikpi

Following the Conservative Party’s victory in the December 2019 general election, and the passing of the Withdrawal Agreement Act on 23 January 2020, the UK has now left the European Union with a divorce deal.  Under the deal, formally called the Withdrawal Agreement, there is a transitional period running from...

3rd February 2020
BY Iain Halliday

By today, most businesses around the country will have reopened following the festive break. With energy levels topped up and a whole new year to embrace, if the business — large or small — hasn’t already done so, now is the time to put Brexit immigration plans into full swing....

6th January 2020
BY Nichola Carter

In all likelihood, the events of last Thursday mean the UK will be exiting the EU on 31 January 2020 with a deal. This means EU law will remain in place during a transitional period at least until 31 December 2020. After this date, either the transitional period is extended...

18th December 2019
BY Chris Benn

An incorrect decision under the EU Settlement Scheme could impact the terms by which EU citizens and their family members are able to reside and access services in the UK after Brexit. Statistics we have retrieved on administrative reviews of Settlement Scheme decisions show that 89.5% of initial decisions reviewed...

4th December 2019
BY Joe Tomlinson

Another statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 170) was laid on 24 October 2019. The changes relate to Appendix EU of the Rules and their functioning in a no-deal Brexit scenario. This is somewhat surprising given recent events. Jacob Rees-Mogg said in Parliament on the same date that...

25th October 2019
BY Chris Desira

The Home Office released a new set of EU Settlement Scheme statistics in early October. While this update again showed a rise in applications to the scheme, it also suggests re-applications to it are counted towards the total. This raises questions over the quality and transparency of statistical reporting about...

21st October 2019
BY Kuba Jablonowski

As the outcome of the latest Brexit negotiations are still uncertain — and with 31 October less than one month away – the latest research update from the Public Law Project (PLP) shows that EU citizens would still lack statutory protection for their rights in the event of a ‘no-deal’...

8th October 2019
BY Alexandra Sinclair

An EU citizen, or their spouse or civil partner, is entitled to have his or her dependent parent continue to live with them or join them in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme. This has always been the case since the scheme began. But one particularly confusing aspect, even...

16th September 2019
BY Chris Desira

A few weeks ago I analysed EU Settlement Scheme stats released in August. I argued that the Scheme is not working as well as the Government claims it is. While it might be performing well from the point of view of its administrators at the Home Office, it surely seems to...

13th September 2019
BY Kuba Jablonowski

Yesterday afternoon the government dropped statement of changes to the Immigration Rules HC 2631. This is a formal change to the Immigration Rules and there is a lot to it: the full version weighs in at 102 pages. We’ll deal with other changes in another post (or posts) but here we’re...

10th September 2019
BY Chris Desira

The Johnson ‘government’ has reaffirmed that free movement rules will continue if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 31 October. A new voluntary (Ed. – !?!) immigration scheme will be introduced called the European Temporary Leave to Remain Scheme, or “Euro TLR” to its (few) friends. From...

9th September 2019
BY Colin Yeo

When the word ‘chaotic’ no longer seems to adequately describe a situation you know things are getting bad.  The government’s announcement and subsequent hasty retraction of its intention to end free movement on 1 November 2019 has served only to amplify levels of anxiety amongst EU nationals and the wider...

6th September 2019
BY Joanna Hunt

The Government yesterday rowed back on the bonkers idea floated by Home Secretary Priti Patel two weeks ago to end free movement of EU citizens into the UK on 31 October 2019. Apart from the obvious problem of having to invent and implement a new immigration system in a matter...

2nd September 2019
BY Colin Yeo

The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said last week that free movement for EU nationals will end on 31 October 2019 unless there is a Brexit deal. Media reports indicate that she intends to repeal EU free movement law from day one of a no-deal Brexit, replacing it with new rules...

29th August 2019
BY Alexandra Sinclair

Following Priti Patel’s recent comments about the immediate end of free movement following a no-deal Brexit, the Home Office sent an email reassuring EU citizens that they will continue to be eligible to remain in the UK so long as they apply for the settled status scheme. What the email...

28th August 2019
BY Chris Desira

Confusion abounds after Dominic Cummings sources close to Home Secretary Priti Patel told the Telegraph and Independent over the weekend that free movement of EU citizens would end the day after a no-deal exit on 31 October 2019. While at first glance it seems very unlikely that this means anything...

19th August 2019
BY Chris Desira

Three years after the referendum, the more than three million EU citizens living in the UK still have no clarity on what their legal status will be after Brexit. It is uncertain whether the Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May’s government (formally known as the Withdrawal Agreement) will ever be...

9th August 2019
BY Stijn Smismans

Over 900,000 people have applied for EU settled status so far. By the end of June 2019, the Home Office had processed 806,000 applications, granting full settled status in 65% of cases and pre-settled status in 35% of cases. The department says that nobody has been refused status outright. There...

23rd July 2019
BY Chris Desira

The government should guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK through legislation to back up the flawed EU Settlement Scheme, an influential committee of MPs has said. In a report published today, the Home Affairs committee invokes the Windrush scandal, says that “lessons must be learned to...

30th May 2019
BY CJ McKinney

The June 2016 vote to leave the European Union has already had a major impact on Europeans living in the UK. Even though Brexit has not actually happened yet, there are now far fewer EU citizens coming to live in the UK than before the vote, and those already here...

29th May 2019
BY CJ McKinney
Login
Or become a member of Free Movement today