Gaps in EU residency status

Key differences exist between the UK’s offer and the EU’s offer on post-Brexit residency status of EU citizens and their family members, with some people falling through the gaps of both, says Jonathan Kingham, LexisPSL.

Writing in NLJ this week, Kingham points out that the UK’s offer appears to fall short of the EU offer. The EU has proposed guaranteed lifetime residence rights for UK citizens residing in the EU on the withdrawal date or who have previously resided in the EU. However, the UK government has proposed granting eligible EU citizens and their family members ‘settled status’, or the ability to acquire it within a limited time.

Kingham says: ‘Settled status appears to be very similar to the existing status of indefinite leave to remain.’ Moreover, current uncertainty over the specified cut-off date is ‘not helpful’, he says. ‘Any cut-off date earlier than Brexit day would be highly unsatisfactory for people who have moved to the UK since 29 March, for example, to take up a job.’

Conditions for family members joining an EU citizen after the date of withdrawal may be even more difficult. Just like family members of British citizens, partners will need to meet the minimum income threshold requirements, while dependent parents and grandparents will have to qualify under the domestic Adult Dependent Relatives rules which, Kingham says, ‘are virtually impossible to meet’.

And some categories of people are excluded from both the UK and the EU proposal, leaving their future uncertain—including those here under EU ‘derivative’ rights of residence, and self-employed or employed Turkish nationals and their families resident in the UK under measures related to the EC Association Agreement with Turkey.