Most of the applications approved: Millions of EU citizens want to stay in the UK

Most of the applications approved
Millions of EU citizens want to stay in the UK

Almost five million Europeans have applied for a right to stay in the UK. If approved, there is digital proof. This has been necessary since Brexit because the free movement of people was abolished.

Almost 4.9 million citizens of EU member states and other European countries have applied for a right to stay in Great Britain. This was announced by the British Home Office in London. Almost 4.4 million of the applications were therefore decided positively. Around 34,000 were rejected. Since Great Britain finally left the European single market at the turn of the year, the free movement of people between the island and the continent has been abolished.

Citizens from the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland who settled in Great Britain before December 31, 2020, can submit their application until June 30. According to the exit agreement, you should have the same rights as before.

A physical document as proof will not be available in the future either, as Interior Secretary Kevin Foster said. Foster sees concerns from stakeholders who warned that the digital evidence is inadequate as unfounded. "A digital status cannot be lost, it cannot be falsified and it cannot be stolen," said Foster.

Paper documents are now "incredibly insecure and can easily be forged," said the State Secretary. The government is in contact with airlines to prevent people with valid residence status from being prevented from traveling to the UK because they cannot show a stamp in their passport or document.

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