Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Friday 7th June 2019

EU citizens are our friends, family and neighbours and we want them to stay. The EU Settlement Scheme makes it easy for them to confirm their right to do so – over 750,000 people have already applied.

EU citizens are our friends, family and neighbours and the Government has been clear that we want them to stay, regardless of whether there is a deal with the EU. This is why we have established the EU Settlement Scheme, which is a free service that makes it easy for EU citizens and their family members to obtain the UK immigration status they need in order to remain here permanently.

Regardless of whether the scheme was registration or application based, we would have to ask for much of the same information but what is important is that we have made the process as simple and straightforward as possible. In practice, the person only needs to complete three key steps – prove their identity, show that they live in the UK, and declare any criminal convictions.

Since opening, over 750,000 applications have been received and hundreds of thousands of people have already been granted status under the scheme.

Protecting the rights of all those who have made the UK their home has been our priority right from the start. The EU Settlement Scheme gives EU citizens and their family members evidence that they can use to demonstrate their rights in the UK. Throughout the process, the Home Office will be looking for reasons to grant status, not to refuse, and we will work with applicants to try to ensure they receive the status under the scheme for which they qualify.

We are determined that, through the EU Settlement Scheme, EU citizens who have made the UK their home will be able to continue with their lives here much as before.

The scheme protects the rights of EU citizens in UK law and gives them a secure digital status which, unlike a physical document, cannot be lost, stolen or tampered with.

In practice, the information required for a registration system would differ very little from the streamlined approach of the EU Settlement Scheme. However, a declaratory system – under which EU citizens were not required to obtain status and evidence of this – would risk causing confusion especially for the most vulnerable, and could in years to come find people struggling to prove their status.

We have taken great care to learn from the experience of the Windrush generation, and applying to the scheme will give EU citizens certainty that they will be able to evidence their rights in future.

The Government is also putting in place a series of measures to support applicants, which is why there are over 200 assisted digital locations across the UK, dedicated staff in our Settlement Resolution Centre and £9 million available for 57 organisations across the UK to support an estimated 200,000 vulnerable people to apply.

Home Office.