Change coming to UK & EU residence rules

THERE IS MILDLY good news for EU citizens seeking "settled status" in the UK. Campaign group the3million is reporting a UK Home Office announcement on 23 July that:

from September 2023 people with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) will automatically have their status extended by two years before it expires if they have not obtained settled status; and
the Home Office also intends to take steps to automatically convert as many eligible pre-settled status holders as possible to settled status once they are eligible for it, without them needing to make an application.

The extension process will be automated by the Home Office and reflected in the person's digital status. They will be notified of the extension directly. This will ensure that nobody loses their immigration status if they do not apply to switch from pre-settled to settled status.

These changes respond to a case brought against His Majesty's Government by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens' Rights Agreements (IMA) and won in December.

Other news from the3million includes:

European Union flags

Image © Matt Salusbury

Meanwhile, the EU is revising its rules on long-term resident status for non-EU citizens. This will of course affect members who are UK citizens, do not yet have that status, and want it.

Spain, which holds the presidency of the EU until the end of the year, has proposed that the requirements be relaxed somewhat. If this proposal is passed, those seeking long-term resident status will have to show that they have lived in the EU - in one or more member states - for five years. At present, some EU member states processing applications may require residence in their territory for that qualifying period.

The proposal is somewhat entangled with parallel and deeply contentious proposals on asylum. As Steve Peers, Professor of EU Law & Human Rights Law at Royal Holloway, University of London, notes, under this proposal asylum seekers could count the whole time they spent awaiting an asylum decision towards their residence applications requirement.

The proposal also seeks to tighten checks on those who seek to acquire residence through investment - the "cash for passports" schemes of member states such as Malta and Cyprus. This too may be the subject of intense lobbying.

Case brought against UK Government's 'unlawful' Pre-Settled Status provisions

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