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UK Home Office admits most EU expats unable to be deported
| Published: | 10 Oct at 6 PM |
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The British Home Office has calculated five out of every six EU citizens now living in the UK would not be able to be deported.
It seems over 80 per cent of EU nationals in the UK will be entitled to rights of residency by the time the Brexit negotiations are finished and the UK officially quits the EU. The report by the Home Office includes the fact that the remaining 600,000 would likely be offered an amnesty, making nonsense of Theresa May’s stance that the status of EU expats in the UK would depend on how the 1.2 million UK expats in the bloc are treated.
Over 3.5 million EU citizens are at present living and working in Britain, and will be fully entitled to permanent residency by 2019. A senior source at the Home Office told the media the remainder of those who do not qualify will also be allowed to remain in the UK.
A source in the Cabinet confirmed the story, adding it’s crucial that UK nationals living elsewhere in the EU bloc are also giving the same rights to remain.
The Home Office revelation is unlikely to please dedicated Leave supporters, and Theresa May’s supporters may well be unhappy her refusal to guarantee the right to remain for EU citizens in Britain is now a worthless promise. However, current rules governing permanent residency are set in stone, stating the right is conferred after residence in the UK for five years and taking away one of Britain’s main negotiating cards.
May’s and Amber Rudd’s speeches at the recent Conservative party conference both held reference to a call for an immigration crackdown, but according to UK immigration law, it will be impossible to deport those EU workers already in residence. How the revelation and its result will affect concerned British expats in EU countries is yet to be seen.
It seems over 80 per cent of EU nationals in the UK will be entitled to rights of residency by the time the Brexit negotiations are finished and the UK officially quits the EU. The report by the Home Office includes the fact that the remaining 600,000 would likely be offered an amnesty, making nonsense of Theresa May’s stance that the status of EU expats in the UK would depend on how the 1.2 million UK expats in the bloc are treated.
Over 3.5 million EU citizens are at present living and working in Britain, and will be fully entitled to permanent residency by 2019. A senior source at the Home Office told the media the remainder of those who do not qualify will also be allowed to remain in the UK.
A source in the Cabinet confirmed the story, adding it’s crucial that UK nationals living elsewhere in the EU bloc are also giving the same rights to remain.
The Home Office revelation is unlikely to please dedicated Leave supporters, and Theresa May’s supporters may well be unhappy her refusal to guarantee the right to remain for EU citizens in Britain is now a worthless promise. However, current rules governing permanent residency are set in stone, stating the right is conferred after residence in the UK for five years and taking away one of Britain’s main negotiating cards.
May’s and Amber Rudd’s speeches at the recent Conservative party conference both held reference to a call for an immigration crackdown, but according to UK immigration law, it will be impossible to deport those EU workers already in residence. How the revelation and its result will affect concerned British expats in EU countries is yet to be seen.
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