'Uncertainty remains' over settled status for some EU citizens in York
We've been hearing from a York case study, whose mum is from France and has lived here since 1961.
There are concerns some EU citizens living in York still face uncertainty over their settled status.
The deadline for most families passed this Wednesday (30th June), although some groups can still apply if they were living in the UK by 31st December 2020.
Emilie Knight is from York - her mum is originally from France but has been living here since 1961. They applied for her settled status before the deadline, but haven't heard back yet.
This is despite the Home Office saying "After you’ve applied, you’ll get a certificate of application. The certificate will explain what you can use it for while you’re waiting for a decision - for example, whether you can use it to prove your right to work in the UK".
Emilie told Greatest Hits Radio York: "I got quite a lot of people pushing back online on what I've been saying. I've been accused of making things up; people were saying 'she's been here for 60 years, so why hasn't she got citizenship?'
"This isn't about citizenship - it's got nothing to do with citizenship. I've been trying to patiently explain this to people. Other people have said 'they've (EU citizens) had years after the EU referendum to apply' - they haven't, because the scheme to apply wasn't brought in until 2019.
"Let's not forget that it was in 2019 that Boris Johnson said that EU citizens were guaranteed the right to stay and that nothing would change. This is on the back of the referendum campaign where Vote Leave said EU citizens would have an automatic right to stay in the UK - that was a broken promise.
"Many people have therefore believed that applying for settled status doesn't apply to them; that's where the confusion has arisen.
"People have fallen through the cracks. I heard recently of a German citizen living in York - with no family - and he didn't know he had to apply. It's a grave concern, and I'm worried that we're going to start seeing injustices occurring.
"Covid is hiding a lot of the problems because people aren't moving around as much. Problems will happen when EU citizens like my mum will travel abroad to visit family, and when they try to come back they haven't got legitimate proof that they live here in the UK".
The Home Office website lists the following information for people wanting to apply after the deadline:
Criteria for later deadlines and ‘reasonable grounds’ for not applying by the deadline
"In some cases, you can still apply after 30th June 2021. For example, if you’re joining a family member who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020, your deadline will be based on when you arrive in the UK, as long as:
you were their family member by 31 December 2020 (this does not apply to children born or adopted after this date)
the family relationship still exists when you apply
You can also apply if you can show ‘reasonable grounds’ (such as medical reasons, or being the victim of domestic abuse) for why you did not apply by 30th June 2021".
We've also contacted the Home Office for a statement on the issues raised in this interview.