Thread by @cldesira

Thread: The U.K. Govt. confirmed what was suspected (and what the @ukhomeoffice have hinted at in private talks) that, in the event of a no-deal #Brexit, free movement will end on 29/03/2019. For #EUcitizens arriving after this date, they face a new temporary system.

https://twitter.com/immigrationbot/status/1089946061362343936

The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill, once enacted, will repeal the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, which currently implement free movement in UK law.

This system will be a temporary transitional system running from 30/03/2019 and until 31/12/2020, to give the U.K. Govt. time to implement the new immigration system on 01/01/2021.

This means that EU citizens arriving in the U.K. after 29/03/2019 (and those who were here before but their continuous residence was broken) will need, for the first time in decades, permission to be in the U.K. or face the wrath of the Home Office.

EU citizens (and EU family members) coming for short visits will be able to enter the U.K., as they can now, and stay for up to three months from each entry. This new leave to remain will be an automatic grant, given on arrival, with permission to work:

Those who want to stay longer will need to apply to the @ukhomeoffice for leave to remain within three months of arrival.

If you don’t hold valid permission to be in the UK (or forget to apply) your presence here will be unlawful and you may be liable to enforcement action.

If you do remember to apply to stay longer you will receive a non-extendable visa, to bridge your time in the U.K. to when the new immigration system starts. If you wish to stay even longer, you will need to apply for a different visa under the new system in 01/01/2021.

That doesn’t guarantee that everyone will qualify under the new immigration system. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to stay in the U.K. permanently:

All this isn’t without exceptions, there will be security checks and the @ukhomeoffice will apply the much LOWER deportation threshold in the case of criminality and conduct to justified refusals or removals.

It’s not clear when these checks will take place with the automatic grant. Perhaps when you apply to stay longer, but I wouldn’t rule it out at the 3 month stage. For an excellent summary of the current law on deporting EU citizens see @freemovementlaw - bit.ly/2xrVqj1

This means there will be two groups of EU citizens, those resident before 29/03/2019 (and eligible to apply for #settledstatus) and those who arrive after this date (or were here before and their continuous residence was broke) under this new system.

How will employers, landlords, banks, etc, identify between the two groups? Well the Govt. will not ask them to, at least for now:

From 2021, employers and others will need to check EU citizens’ status using the Home Office’s Digital Status Checker, but not retrospectively. Until 2021 a passport or national ID card will be sufficient evidence:

Close EU family members (spouse, partner, dependent child under 18) can accompany the EU national, ie, arrive as a visitor together and stay together. But, as usual for the U.K. Govt., if your family members are non-EU citizens it’s a little trickier:

Third country nationals, again get unfairly treated, as they will be charged fees for all applications, including the 3 month visit.

The initial 3 months entry for EU nationals will be free, but the extension application will attract a fee.

Fees to be set at a later date.