EU citizens in the UK say they are “bitterly disappointed” with the government’s proposal to protect their rights after Brexit, branding Theresa May’s deal a “vague document” that “does not make us feel safe”.
Campaign groups lobbying for EU citizens’ rights said there was also fury that an estimated 150,000 EU citizens who went through the complicated process of applying for permanent residency cards as a means of securing their future in the UK have to apply again for a new “settled status” register that could entail an ID card.
“We have got members who are outraged. Some of them have spent thousands of pounds on legal fees to apply for permanent residency since the referendum and they are now being told ‘you shouldn’t have bothered’,” said Nicolas Hatton, co-founder of the campaign group for EU citizens in the UK, the3million.
He and other representatives of both EU citizens in the UK and British nationals living elsewhere in the EU had a lengthy meeting with the Brexit undersecretary of state, Robin Walker, and the immigration minister, Brandon Lewis, after May unveiled her package of proposals.
Hatton said the offer fell far short of the proposal placed on the table by the EU a fortnight ago to protect the rights of Britons in the EU.
“We are bitterly disappointed. It does not feel like a finished document. It does not feel like the EU document, which is definitive and authoritative,” said Hatton.
The group welcomed the government’s decision to abandon the controversial requirement that the “economically inactive”, including students and stay-at-home parents, need to have private health insurance to avoid deportation after Brexit.
However, they said this exemplified the need for the European court of justice to be the ultimate arbiter of disputes in relation to EU citizens because the UK decided to interpret the EU requirement for health insurance differently to the rest of Europe.
The comprehensive sickness insurance (CSI) requirement was virtually unheard of before the referendum on the EU, and many thought they were at risk of removal from the country after the former immigration minister, Robert Goodwill, wrote to a Dutch woman this January to tell her she might have to leave the country if she did not prove she had CSI.
“Our immediate reaction is that, yes, this is a relief, though such is our mistrust now of the Home Office that we are waiting to see the small print before coming to any fixed opinion,” said Jet Cooper on Monday.
Her husband, Patrick, who has suffered cancer, questioned why the Home Office took so long to announce its proposals, saying the delay feels “vindictive and nasty”.
“We have had an awful year, along with millions of others. Personally I’ve had cancer, so the insecurity of not knowing how long I will live has been magnified by the possibility that my bereaved wife might be forced to leave her home of 30 years. What on earth reason was there to put us, and everybody else, through this?” he said.
Colin Yeo, a barrister who specialises in immigration and writes about EU freedom of movement, said the UK was “merely falling into line with what EU law always required” on health insurance, “so this is a welcome but overdue change of position”.
On the wider deal, he said there was “nothing remotely generous about it at all”.
He added: “It represents the bare minimum that decency requires, amounting to little more than agreeing not to kick out EU nationals when Brexit occurs. A genuinely generous offer would preserve future family reunion rights and be properly legally enforceable in case a future UK government reneges on the agreement.”
May had said her offer was “fair and generous” when she first outlined it at a dinner in Brussels last Thursday.
But it was met with a lukewarm reaction from European leaders, with the EU president, Donald Tusk, warning that it was so underwhelming it may have damaged the EU’s efforts to protect Britons in the EU.
The EU has offered a lifetime guarantee that Britons living in Europe can continue to enjoy all rights they currently hold, with an additional bonus freedom of movement right to allow them to work or retire in any other EU country of their choice.
This has not been matched by the British offer. The3million has expressed concern over several issues, including the limited family reunion package.
Under the British deal, EU citizens will be able to bring in family members up to a cut-off date. The EU deal allows Britons to bring in family members in perpetuity, enabling them to bring their parents to any EU country if they become ill or need caring for in later life. This will not apply to EU citizens in the UK.
One cohort who do not have to worry are Irish citizens, who have been told they will be treated differently to other nationals and will not have to apply for “settled status”.
This was because of separate laws, including the Ireland Act 1949, that protect their rights, the government said in its proposal.
“These arrangements reflect the longstanding social and economic ties between the UK and Ireland and pre-date both countries’ membership of the EU,” it said.
Andrew Tingley, an immigration lawyer with London law firm Kingsley Napley, said forcing 150,000 EU citizens to reapply for residency cards was unfair.
“The government has said that it will make the application process for these people as streamlined as possible. The process should be automatic and they should not have to pay a fee,” he said.
He counts many large corporates as clients and noted that the proposals were vague on income thresholds for retirees, for people who set up their own businesses and those who get posted around the world for work.
“This uncertainty will drive EU talent, investment and wealth away from the UK in the coming years,” he said.
Hatton said they had been asked to give feedback to the Department for Exiting the EU. “If we can help to add clarity we will be delighted to do so,” he said.