Politics1 min read

Home Office sued after stripping almost 1,500 EU citizens of right to live in UK

By · Via The Guardian Politics · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The lawsuit challenges the Home Office's "grant in error" practice, demanding the court declare the policy unlawful under the Brexit withdrawal agreement or common law. Campaigners argue that the flexible and discretionary design of the original EU settlement scheme left applicants unaware of their exact legal basis, compounding current vulnerabilities. Those impacted include dual Brazilian-Italian citizens initially rejected for lacking Italian passports at application, alongside an NHS worker pursuing a dentistry PhD.

Key points

  • The Home Office faces judicial scrutiny for stripping residency rights under claims that…: The Home Office faces judicial scrutiny for stripping residency rights under claims that original approvals were made in error.
  • Petitioners seek to strike down the offending policy guidance on the grounds that it brea…: Petitioners seek to strike down the offending policy guidance on the grounds that it breaches Brexit withdrawal agreement protections.
  • Flaws stem partly from the original EU settlement scheme, which relied heavily on discret…: Flaws stem partly from the original EU settlement scheme, which relied heavily on discretionary and flexible evidential standards.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

The Home Office is being sued for alleged breach of the Brexit withdrawal agreement after stripping almost 1,500 EU citizens of their full rights to live in the UK.

Campaign group the3million lodged papers at the high court on Friday after several cases emerged of EU citizens who were granted pre-settled status to remain in the country after Brexit but were told recently those decisions were an “error”.

According to the statement of claim, the Home Office decision to remove all or some rights from citizens granted pre-settled status was made without “procedural protections” required under the Brexit withdrawal agreement (WA).

These protections include a right of an appeal and an assessment of “proportionality”, which would establish whether removal of rights was appropriate given the EU citizens in question built their lives in the UK on the basis of the Home Office’s original decision.

Among the people affected by the Home Office policy was a 33-year-old Brazilian Italian engineer who has been in London since 2018. He was originally told that he should not have settled status: he could stay…

Politics