All Articles: EU Free Movement
Important changes to the way late EUSS applications are treated
The Home Office has changed the immigration rules and the guidance on making applications to the EU Settlement Scheme, taking a far more restrictive approach to late applications than has been the case previously. The Office of the Immigration Service ...
13th November 2023New requirement to notify the Independent Monitoring Authority of claims
From 1 October 2023 any claim governed by the Civil Procedure Rules relating to a breach of citizens’ rights under the withdrawal agreements must be notified to the Independent Monitoring Authority. The authority was set up under the terms of the wi ...
29th September 2023Who qualifies as a “durable partner” under the EU Settlement Scheme?
…some parts of the rules relating to the EU Settlement Scheme are so difficult to comprehend that it is at least arguable that they lack the clarity of law. An aspect of the definition of a ‘durable partner’ contained in Annex 1 of Appen ...
18th August 2023Post-Brexit spouses aren’t protected by the Withdrawal Agreement, Court of Appeal confirms
If you married an EU national in the UK after 31 December 2020, you can’t get leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme unless you previously had or applied for an EEA residence card or family permit as their durable partner. That remains the c ...
1st August 2023A glitch or a feature? Systemic problems with digital proof of immigration status
Digital technology plays a central role in the ongoing reform of British borders after Brexit, and the 2019 launch of the EU Settlement Scheme was a pivotal moment in this transformation. The EUSS introduced an online-by-default process to apply for i ...
31st July 2023How does absence from the UK work under the EU settlement scheme?
Absences from the United Kingdom — time spent outside the UK, basically — can have an impact on whether a person qualifies for full settled status under the EU settlement scheme. If you spend too long outside the country, you may lose your ...
27th July 2023Upper Tribunal rules post-Brexit Zambrano appeals can continue
In a highly technical decision, Osunneye (Zambrano, transitional appeal rights) Nigeria [2023] UKUT 162 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal has concluded that Zambrano appeals may proceed notwithstanding the various Brexit regulations. The official headnote: A ...
25th July 2023High Court rejects challenge to EU Settlement Scheme dependency rules for children
The child of an EU national is only entitled to stay in the UK after Brexit if they are under 21 or dependent on their parent, the High Court has held. In reaching this conclusion, the court in R (on the application of Ali) v Secretary of State for th ...
7th July 2023New law confirms British citizenship for children of EU citizens born in UK before 2 October 2000
The British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Act 2023 came into force on 29 June 2023. It inserts a new section 50B into the British Nationality Act 1981. Section 50B definitively and retrospectively confirms the British nationality statu ...
6th July 2023Durable partner rules dumbfound the Upper Tribunal
It is not often you’ll see an Upper Tribunal judge simply concede defeat trying to understand what on earth the immigration rules mean, but this is exactly what happened in this unreported Appendix EU durable partner appeal. For those who have battl ...
25th January 2023High Court finds EU Settlement Scheme breaches the Withdrawal Agreement
The Brexit fall out continues with the High Court finding in the case of Independent Monitoring Authority v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3274 (Admin) that the EU settlement scheme is unlawful. The scheme was set up by the Bri ...
23rd December 2022Frontex, pushbacks and the failure to protect the right to claim asylum in Greece
Across Europe, asylum seekers and displaced people are facing growing hostility as they look to start new lives escaping war and persecution. In Greece, there is continually mounting evidence of “pushbacks” to which Frontex, the European Border an ...
30th November 2022Home Office guidance update: the NHS and comprehensive sickness insurance for EEA nationals
The Home Office has finally responded to the Court of Justice of the European Union’s judgment in the case of VI v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs C-247/20, handed down on 10 March 2022, by updating its guidance on European Economic Area (EEA) n ...
2nd November 2022Statement of Changes HC 719: Appendix EU and Appendix EU (Family Permit)
Appendix EU and Appendix EU (Family Permit) have both received some updates in the latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. The accompanying explanatory statement gives an overview of the changes that have been made. The changes come into ...
20th October 2022No human rights in EU Settled Status appeals, unless Home Office consent
In Celik (EU exit; marriage; human rights) [2022] UKUT 00220 (IAC) and Batool and others (other family members: EU exit) [2022] UKUT 00219 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal considered to what extent human rights arguments can be considered in EU Settled Status ...
25th August 2022No reprieve for durable partners prevented from marrying due to COVID-19
Many predicted that the heady mix of Brexit and COVID-19 would result in litigation, and so it has come to pass. Ending EU free movement law in the middle of a global pandemic – when people faced difficulty travelling, marrying, and getting advice f ...
17th August 2022Upper Tribunal confirms undocumented extended family members cannot benefit from EU Settled Status scheme
Extended family members who have made an application under the EU Settlement Scheme, without having first obtained a residence document under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016 are not entitled to settled or pre-settled status. This is the conclus ...
16th August 2022How accurate are EU Settlement Scheme decisions? Here’s what the data shows
The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) opened in 2018 and had issued almost 6.5 million decisions by the end of June 2022. The sheer scale of the scheme is a remarkable achievement for the Home Office. The department took on a momentous task when the UK gove ...
20th July 2022No change to settlement rules for Zambrano carers despite Akinsanya judgment
Zambrano carers who already have permission to stay in the UK under the Immigration Rules cannot use the EU Settlement Scheme as a fast track to permanent residence, the Home Office has confirmed. The department announced today that it would not be ch ...
13th June 2022Zambrano applications must be based on facts, not assumptions, says Court of Appeal
In the case of Velaj v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 767, the Court of Appeal has confirmed that Zambrano applications always require factual inquiries as to what would happen to the British dependant if their primary care ...
7th June 2022Late applications under the Surinder Singh immigration route
Under EU free movement law, British citizens who had been exercising “treaty rights” in the European Economic Area and then decided to move back to the UK could sponsor their family members to come with them. This allowed them to use the friendlie ...
29th March 2022Business travel between the UK and EU: immigration and visa rules
Before 1 January 2021, British and EU citizens did not require a visa to travel across the Channel on a business trip. This is largely still the case post-Brexit, so we’ve been left with the appearance that nothing has really changed from a legal pe ...
28th March 2022UK wrongly insisted on Comprehensive Sickness Insurance for years, EU court finds
Eligibility for NHS treatment does count as Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled. The case is C‑247/20 VI v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Background: non-working EU citizens needed health ...
15th March 2022Repeat applications to the EU Settlement Scheme
The most recent version of the EU Settlement Scheme caseworker guidance was released on 9 December last year. After checking the “changes from last version of this guidance” you would be forgiven for assuming that nothing had changed about ...
1st March 2022Nobody has been refused citizenship for lack of CSI
Regular readers will remember the problems caused by Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, or CSI. Essentially, certain EU citizens in the UK pre-Brexit were expected to have private health insurance. If they didn’t, it can still cause them legal pr ...
4th February 2022Uncertainty persists for Zambrano carers following Court of Appeal ruling
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the government’s appeal against last year’s decision that the EU Settlement Scheme rules on Zambrano carers are unlawful. But the judgment in Akinsanya v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] E ...
26th January 2022More than half of calls to EU Settlement Scheme helpline unanswered
People having problems with their application to the EU Settlement Scheme or issues proving their status have one main point of contact with the Home Office: the EUSS helpline. The Home Office has now revealed that this valuable resource has been fail ...
26th January 2022