Great Britain is out of the European Union, Brexit is complete. But for many people from the EU who have their home on the island, crucial questions remain unanswered.
(dpa)
Around a year after the final Brexit, tens of thousands of EU citizens living in Great Britain are still waiting for their right of residence in the country. “It is not without organizing and living your life further when you are stuck in the backlog,” says Luke Piper of the civil rights organization The3Million in an interview with the German press agency. According to an analysis by the organization, there is a backlog of several hundred thousand applications for the so-called settlement program that have not yet been processed. The program guarantees EU citizens who lived in the country before December 31, 2020, the right to housing, work and health care. In total, more than 6.3 million people have applied for the status.
If processing continues at the current pace, it will take until 2023 for the backlog to be cleared, fears The3Million. When asked, the UK Home Office said there was no deadline by which the applications should be processed. The outstanding applications are about those that are more complicated to process – for example because of previous convictions.
According to The3Million, the process has continued to slow down over the past few months. The organization calls for an increase in the capacities in the Ministry of the Interior so that the applications can be processed more quickly and those affected can rely on advice and assistance while they are waiting for their right of residence.
The UK government is also currently facing a lawsuit brought by the UK regulator over the rights of EU citizens. As the Independent Monitoring Authority for Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA) announced, around 2.4 million EU citizens in Great Britain run the risk of automatically losing their rights guaranteed in the Brexit agreement.
The background: Anyone who has only been in the country for less than five years can initially only apply for a temporary residence status, which can be converted to permanent status upon application at the latest after the expiry of another five years. But you have to apply again for this. However, if this deadline is missed, entitlements to life, work and state support automatically expire under current regulations.
The Brexit treaty guarantees EU citizens who were in the country before Great Britain finally left the community of states the same rights as before.