A new status for European permanent residents

1is July will be an important day for French people living in the United Kingdom: if they “ Arranged Status », 1. New permanent resident status for all EU citizens who settled in the United Kingdom beforeis January 2021, they will lose the right to work in the country.

→ check. “Since May, we have seen tensions appear”: what is the impact of Brexit in France?

Like all French people wishing to come to the UK to work from the beginning of the year, they must pay at least £25,600 (€29,900) per year to obtain a resident visa. On the other hand, if they have fulfilled their request, nothing will change for them with respect to their pre-Brexit position.

→ Maintenance. Michel Barnier: “On some issues, the British show bad faith”

Since August 2018, 5.3 million Europeans have applied « Inhabited Status », including 206,910 French. This is much higher than early estimates, which predicted the presence of around 3 million Europeans in the UK.

« Inhabited Status »

France ranks eighth within the European Union, ahead of a handful of Eastern European countries, but also Italy, Portugal and Spain. To date, 196,790 requests from French people have been processed, including Angelina Ferrari. With her husband Ugo and their two children, she applied « Inhabited Status » 26 January 2020.” At that time everyone said that you have to apply early as the process can be complicated”, she remembers. “Finally, completing the application online just got easier. And eight days later on February 3rd, I received a positive response, a pace that took us by surprise. “

Nicholas Hatton, director of “The 3 Million”, an organization protecting the rights of Europeans, readily admitted that “The British Home Office has managed to achieve the impossible: to set up a relatively easy system that has enabled over 5 million registrations in a relatively short period of time”.

great potential for complications

He still said that he was worried. “ When the country definitely switched to digital television in 2012, 3% of Britons did not take the necessary steps”, He remembers. ” If such a level of de-registration materialises, 150,000 Europeans would find themselves illegal. » Various reasons can explain this: they may not know or will not be able to file an online application, their level of English is not good enough or they felt they were exempt.

“Between computer errors and it being illegal without people knowing it, the potential for complications is great. ”, estimates Caitlin Boswell, one of the leaders of the JCWI organization, which specialized in aiding migrants, who sought extra time to complete the formalities.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *