The year ends for the Conservative government of Rishi Sunak with a setback from the British courts on account of the decisions adopted with the Brexit. Justice Peter Lane of the High Court of England and Wales has ruled part of the so-called illegal EU Settlement Scheme (EU Citizens’ Settlement Scheme), the program developed by the British Home Office to grant residence —and preserve all acquired rights— to those EU citizens who lived in the United Kingdom before Brexit. The decision affects 2.7 million people, of the total 6.7 million who applied for British residence until September 30.
Specifically, Judge Lane has knocked down the administrative scheme that forced those who had only obtained a temporary residence for not having been in the country for more than five years at the time of the application, to have to do it again, once that period expired, in order to achieve permanent residence. “This is an erroneous rule in its legality, and therefore makes the entire Settlement Scheme illegal,” said the judge, who believes that the double petition rule “intends to abolish the right to permanent residence” .
The British Government made it clear that failure to apply for permanent residence, after five years, would entail the loss of the right to reside, work, rent or buy real estate, as well as access public services in the United Kingdom. The consequence could be deportation.
The Ministry of the Interior, which has already announced its intention to appeal the judge’s decision, has at all times expressed its willingness to apply the scheme in a flexible manner, but the truth is that, unlike the EU’s treatment of British nationals residing in its territory, the United Kingdom insisted on claiming the double request.
“The Government takes its obligations regarding the rights of EU citizens in the UK very seriously. The Settlement Scheme goes far beyond the commitments made with Brussels in the Withdrawal Agreement [de la UE], protects those rights and offers citizens a route to settlement. We are disappointed with the sentence and we plan to appeal it ”, said Simon Murray, Secretary of State for the Interior.
The 388,000 Spanish citizens who live in the United Kingdom, according to official figures, have taken advantage of the Settlement Scheme. 49% of them are currently in a situation of temporary residence, and would benefit from the judicial decision.
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