EU citizens working at 12 NHS Trusts, and students and staff from 3 Liverpool universities have been invited to test the digital application process for the “EU settlement scheme”. The system is being designed by the Home Office to grant EU nationals the right to stay in the UK post Brexit. Up to 4,000 applicants will be able to participate in the managed live trial from 28 August, allowing developers to improve the process before is goes live later in the year.

EU nationals and their family members will have to apply for the new ‘settled status’ to secure their right to live, study, work and obtain social benefits in Britain, as their current EU rights will fade when the UK leaves the EU. The ‘settled status’ has been agreed with the European Union as part of the Brexit negotiations. The EU insists it should be enforced through an act of parliament (primary legislation), but the draft withdrawal agreement shows that there is no consensus on this point yet.

The UK plans to phase it in and make it fully operational from 29 March 2019 (Brexit date). There will be time to apply until 30 June 2021.

However, there are still concerns that some categories, such as non-EU carers of EU children, will not be covered. Calls have been made to both the Home Office and the European parliament to close these gaps in the withdrawal agreement.

Claudia Delpero © all rights reserved.
Photo via Pixabay.

The article was corrected on 1 August 2018 as it previously implied that there is agreement on the adoption of the ‘settled status’ via primary legislation.