Home Secretary calls on EU member states to publish more detail for expat brits

The Home Secretary made the comments ahead of the Government publishing its Statement of Intent and draft Immigration Rules on the settlement scheme for EU citizens resident in the UK.

The Home Secretary said:

“Publishing details of how we will administer our settled status scheme shows we are honouring the commitments made towards EU citizens living in the UK.

“But I am concerned that I have not seen any similar plans on how EU member states are going to support British nationals in their countries. This is not good enough and I hope both the European Parliament and Commission will exert more pressure for them to do this as soon as possible.”

Earlier this week, he met the European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt MEP. During the meeting Verhofstadt acknowledged that the EU’s 27 member states had not done enough to set out what the procedures will be for expat Britons living across the EU. He confirmed that this would be a priority.

The UK’s settlement scheme, which will allow EU citizens living here and their family members to obtain their new UK immigration status, will open in a phased way from later this year. This follows the citizens’ rights agreement with the EU which guaranteed the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in EU Member States.

The Government is expected to set out more details on how the scheme will operate in an announcement to Parliament tomorrow.

The publication will provide further reassurance to EU citizens and their families by detailing who is eligible, how people will be able to apply and what it will cost.