Theresa May has agreed to maintain the rights of EU migrants during the Brexit transition period in what has been viewed as a major climbdown in previous policy.
Theresa May has conceded that new EU migrants who come to Britain during the Brexit transition period will have the right to settle permanently in the UK – a major reversal over future residency rights.
The Home Office has revealed that EU citizens will have right to settle permanently. The concession was revealed in a Brexit policy paper published by the Home Office which also makes clear that new EU migrants who arrive after March 2019 will be given a five-year temporary residence permit, not the two-year one that was previously proposed by ministers.
The policy paper also makes it clear that new EU migrants who come to live and work in Britain after the start of the transition period will not have the same rights after the Brexit transition to bring family to join them as EU nationals already resident in Britain who have secured “settled status”. Instead, they will have to pass a minimum income threshold test, which is currently set at £18,600 for British but not EU citizens.
The three-page policy statement on new EU migrants arriving the UK during the transition period makes clear they will be given the chance to build up the five years’ continuous residency that is needed to apply to be given the right to stay permanently in Britain. Those EU citizens and their family members who arrive during the transition period and who register will be offered a temporary status in UK law that will enable them to stay after the implementation period has concluded. They will be able to remain lawfully in the UK working, studying or being self-sufficient for the five years needed to obtain settlement.
The policy document says the concessions have been made in order to provide certainty to businesses and those EU citizens who wish to move to the UK during the implementation period with regard to the terms under which they will be able to remain in the UK and make a life there.
