Immigration Minister, Brandon Lewis, has announced that in order to apply for ‘settled status’ post-Brexit, 3 million EU nationals will have to go through an online application. He application will take a few minutes, with about eight questions, and cost no more than £72.
Lewis says the online application will be live to use around half through next year. Those applying will have to pass a criminal record test and be able to demonstrate a history of five years or more living in the country.
However, while this sounds fairly simple, EU nationals will actually have a lot more trouble applying for ‘settled status’ in the UK. Paul McCarthy, Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys explains: “Whilst the news that the UK Government is hoping to make it quick and simple for EEA nationals to apply for documents to confirm their established rights in the UK is welcome, there are still many hurdles to face in any Home Office application.
“Whilst online registration may only take ‘a few minutes’, this is the first of up to eight steps. It will take some time to locate the specific information and documents needed to submit an application. The Home Office only accepts original documents to support an immigration application, which either need to be posted or taken to a local council for the European Passport Return Service. This process will not be quick and easy for many.
“It’s also worth noting that only one in three EEA applicants currently use the online application system, partially because the online form does not always appear at the top of the Google search list. The Home Office has not confirmed whether there will be a simple paper form for those who either cannot locate the correct online form or choose not to use the online form.
“On a practical point, the current application form for Permanent Residence for EEA nationals is 85 pages long containing 20 sections with each section containing up to 43 questions. It is difficult to see how this could be condensed to just eight. Likewise, current processing times for Permanent Residence are up to six months. Given the current pressures on the department and the security checks that will have to be performed on each application, it is difficult to see how such a process can be reduced to two weeks.”
