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‘Hostile environment’ lurks for overseas citizens in UK
AT THE SCRAG end of the previous UK government, a law professor issued a warning to EU citizens who have, or are applying for, "Settled Status" (EUSS) in the UK. The gist is: keep ALL your paperwork to prove when you have been resident in and when you were working in the UK.
A pro-EU rally in London in 2019
Charlotte O'Brien, professor of law at the University of York, wrote on 25 June of "UK authorities arguing that EUSS status is NOT WA [Withdrawal Agreement] status".
The gist is that in order to stop the application process for EUSS becoming more chaotic than it already was, the UK government demanded evidence of residence in the UK to gain EUSS. But in order to access certain rights set out in the UK's Withdrawal Agreement with the EU - including benefits - you must prove that you were economically active or self sufficient in that period.
In a thread on Twitter [archived here] Charlotte O'Brien writes of "cases where vulnerable EU nationals with pre-settled status have sought benefits, or housing assistance, the government has argued that they are not covered by the WA, unless they also meet the conditions which the UK chose not to impose" (emphasis in original).
Again: the practical upshot is that if you have EUSS or "pre-settled status" you must keep records of your income, essentially forever. If you have lost them, attempt now to get copies.
We do not yet know whether the incoming government will continue this vindictive policy. Nor, importantly, do we know what the one after may do.
As O'Brien writes: "Imagine, decades down the line being asked to undertake a mad documentary archaeological scramble, to prove you were economically active or self sufficient, on 31 December 2020, and for five continuous years thereafter."
And for people from elsewhere...
Meanwhile, the UK is changing how people who have come to live in the UK from non-EU countries must prove their residency rights. Physical biometric residence permits (BRPs) will be replaced by digital "eVisas" at the end of 2024.
As Chaminda Jayanetti wrote in the Observer on 29 June, the Home Office has said that people who were granted indefinite leave to remain must apply for a BRP before replacing it with an eVisa. And - you guessed? - to do so they must provide evidence of their presence in the UK, often going back decades.
As the headline sub-editor put it: "'Frightening and frustrating' move to eVisas risks repeat of Windrush scandal."
The same warning about unpredictable shifts in UK government policy applies.
7 September 2024
The Open Rights Group has launched a write-to-your-MP campaign calling on the UK government to suspend the eVisa scheme and to allow both physical documents and a different digital scheme as proof of the right to be in the UK.
6 December 2024
The UK government has announced that existing biometric documents that were to expire on 31 December will be accepted until the end of March 2025, having belatedly recognised the problems withe the eVisa system.
4 June 2025
Since we reference this story in the Freelance Fees Guide we re-checked it. We have not yet found any new case law on entitlement of those with Settled Status or Pre-Settled Status to benefits and housing assistance. Our advice to retain all documents stands - as illustrated by a case in the County Court at Central London in which the London Borough of Islington argued that it did not need to provide housing assistance to Juraj Hynek. (He won. Judgment courtesy of the3million.org.uk. It does not bind other courts.)
Physical "Biometric residence permits" have now expired: the government line is here. Unsurprisimnly, the3million reported problems with the digital system
Benefits and pensions Freelance Fees Guide
Stop the e-Visa scheme and prevent a digital Windrush scandal www.openrightsgroup.org