"A new Windrush scandal in the making": Thousands of EU citizens in the West Midlands yet to apply for settled status as deadline approaches
EU citizens have until the 30th June to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme
Last updated 9th Apr 2021
For decades, EU citizens had the right under EU free movement law to live their lives in the UK but now must ask for permission to continue to do so by applying to the EU Settlement Scheme.
From today, they only have 83 days left until the application deadline on 30 June - after which many changes for EU citizens’ rights in the UK will come into full effect, which will leave some without legal status altogether.
The government has championed the scheme as a national success story and dismissed the concerns raised by many of a new “Windrush in the making”. EU citizens and charities helping people remain in the UK following Brexit say the scheme is beset with problems and are already having a real impact on the daily lives of EU citizens who have lived in the UK for decades.
Meet Luigi Reddi, a Solihull caterer and restauranteur who moved to the region in the 1950's from Italy. He has now completed the application process through the help of his sons and the charity Settled.
Luigi said: "The outcome of Brexit broke my heart you know, and when I found out I had to apply to stay in the country, I became a little bit confrontational I must admit. I said 'why do I have to do it? They have even my dental records, they've got everything already.
"I was resisting doing the application and I thought surely the length of time, my places of work and my tax payments and all that, surely that means something.
"I put on a brave face but I knew deep down that it had to be done and I was concerned about the implementation of all this, and it is difficult about it there's no doubt about it. The forms are all online and I wouldn't have known where to start. I think there should be an easier way to make people aware that they need to do it by the deadline."
Luigi is one of the lucky ones to have learnt he's been granted 'settled' status though with nearly 400,00 people caught in an application backlog.
So what will change on 1 July?
EU citizens will no longer be able to use their passport or national identity card to prove their right to work, rent and access services. Instead, they and their prospective employers, landlords and service providers will need to go through a complex new digital-only process to view and prove this new immigration status. Those who have applied but are still awaiting an outcome on 1 July will clearly not be able to do this and so will lose out on job opportunities, not be able to move to a new home or be wrongly charged for hospital treatment.
Successful applicants are granted settled status if they have been in the UK for a minimum of five years or pre-settled status for less than five years’ residence. But many are unaware that pre-settled status is significantly less secure than settled status. It does not give the same entitlement to benefits,
it expires after five years, and is subject to complicated rules regarding absences from the UK meaning people can unknowingly lose their status altogether or their entitlement to apply for settled status in future. Nearly half of EU citizens who have successfully applied only hold pre-settled status and will have to apply again for settled status.
People without status will start to experience issues from the first time they are asked to prove their rights. They will be refused their flat, bank account, job, hospital treatment or benefits.
They could lose the job and home they already have, be left without access to state support and ultimately face removal from the UK.
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