UK Offer On EU Citizens' Rights: An Edelman Briefing

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UK TABLES OFFER ON EU CITIZENS’ RIGHTS Edelman

26 June 2017

Lucy Thomas Head of Brexit Advice

Pawel Swidlicki Brexit Analyst

Lucy.Thomas@Edelman.com

Pawel.Swidlicki@Edelman.com

KEY POINTS OF THE UK OFFER The UK government has today published its formal offer on EU citizens’ rights post-Brexit. If accepted, this would allow the status of the million or so UK nationals in the EU to be settled. This will be a key element of the first stage of the Brexit talks. •

Post Brexit, all EU citizens and their families in the UK, regardless of when they arrived, will need to obtain a new immigration status (even those who post-Brexit successfully navigated the 85-page residence application). This will be provided in the form of a new residence document differentiating them from new post-Brexit arrivals. In order to avoid a legal cliff-edge between the end of free movement and the point at which EU citizens apply for and obtain their new status, the UK will bridge this gap by providing “a period of blanket residence permission”, likely to last for two years. As the government acknowledges, “it will be impractical to issue a very high volume of residence documents immediately when the UK leaves”. EU nationals resident in the UK for at least five years prior to the cut-off date and who are not deemed to pose a security risk can apply for settled status which will entitle them to “work or study here freely, live permanently in the UK with a partner who has settled or is a UK national, and have access to benefits and public services in line with UK nationals.”

The cut-off date is yet to be determined – the UK has said that it “will be no earlier than 29 March 2017, and no later than the date of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.”

EU nationals who have arrived before the cut-off date but who haven’t yet accrued 5 years’ continuous residence at time of Brexit will be able to apply for temporary status in order to attain the necessary qualification period.

Those EU citizens who arrive after the specified date will be “allowed to remain in the UK for at least a temporary period and may become eligible to settle permanently, depending on their circumstances – but this group should have no expectation of guaranteed settled status”.

Settled status is not permanent – the government says that it “would generally be lost if a person was absent from the UK for more than two years, unless they have strong ties here.”

The new settled status will not apply to Irish nationals whose status is superseded by the Common Travel Area arrangements and social and economic rights set out in the 1949 Ireland Act. Ireland aside, all other EU nationals will be treated equally.

There will be parallel discussions with EFTA states (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland) about reciprocal arrangements.

EU citizens’ rights will be enshrined in UK law and enforceable through the UK judicial system. As expected, the UK has ruled out the possibility of ECJ jurisdiction, although it says that the commitments “will have the status of international law.”

The procedure for applying for UK residence will be streamlined. The UK will minimise the burden of documentary evidence required use existing government data where possible. Application fees will be set at a ‘reasonable level’.


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