UK starts crackdown on EU citizens’ post-Brexit rights | Brexit

UK ministers will begin stripping post-Brexit residence rights of EU citizens who no longer live “permanently” in the country.

The initiative is legal under the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement, but the decision to use travel data to partly determine absences has raised concerns following the HMRC debacle that saw almost 20,000 parents cut off from child benefits due to faulty Home Office border data.

The Home Office said the crackdown was aimed at those who had obtained “pre-settled status” to remain in the UK before Brexit; This status applied to anyone who had been in the UK for less than five years.

Authorities will begin with people believed to have left the country more than five years ago and will take action, including assessing the reasons for long-term absence.

The Home Office said the crackdown protected public services and aimed to prevent illegal immigration through abuse of the system. “In accordance with the withdrawal agreement, the status will be removed only if it is proportionate,” the statement said. Statement on the government’s website.

The latest Home Office data shows that of the 6.2 million people applying for UK immigration status after Brexit, 1.4 million are still pre-settled.

Oxford University’s Migration Observatory said it was difficult to say for sure how many of the 6.2 million people remained in the country, but a combination of census and other data suggested the number could be between 3 million and 4 million.

Those with settled status under the rules will be able to stay outside the country permanently for up to five years and still retain the right to live in the UK under the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement.

For those with pre-settled status, absences can be of any length, as long as they collectively do not exceed 30 months in the most recent 60-month period, the Home Office said.

The Independent Monitoring Authority for Civil Rights Agreements (IMA), a statutory body, said it had “raised concerns” with the Home Office about how suspensions would be implemented. He said it was “difficult to know how caseworkers would make individual decisions in practice.”

The3million, which campaigns for the rights of EU citizens in the UK, expressed concerns that “unsafe” decisions would be made based on travel data. A letter to the Home Office said a person who applied to upgrade their previously settled status to settled status was subsequently questioned by the Home Office due to “apparent inaccuracies” in their travel data.

“The travel data includes journeys that were booked but not taken,” The3million said, adding that the Home Office letter to the individual did not recognize inaccurate travel data even where “inaccuracy was clearly and easily identifiable”.

Their data included “two outbound trips with no outbound trips in between” and trips on the same date but with different destinations.

Miranda Biddle, chief executive of the IMA, said: “We recognize the anxiety, stress and uncertainty this situation may cause for affected citizens. We are in contact with the Home Office to seek reassurance about the security measures it has put in place and the robustness of its decision-making. The IMA will continue to closely monitor how it implements the new guidance.”

The National Audit Office is investigating HMRC’s use of Home Office data despite apparent flaws in travel records.

An investigation by the Guardian and Detail has found that Home Office data does not always record the return journeys of holidaymakers and business people. This report also included airline manifests that did not take into account no-shows, which frequently occur on low-cost airlines and make cancellation of reservations difficult.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the application will start with those who have stayed outside the country the longest. A spokesman said: “We have made it clear that if a person with pre-settled status has spent less than 30 months in the UK in the last 60-month period, they will cease to meet the eligibility requirements and their status may be removed.

“The vast majority of holders of pre-settled status will be completely unaffected by this change, and only those absent from the UK for a long period will be asked to prove their ongoing eligibility.”