The UK government is to launch a multimillion-pound advertising campaign to educate EU citizens who will need to register to remain in the country after Brexit.
The launch of the campaign is set to coincide with a national rollout of a “settled status” phone app that has been in testing phase for the past six months.
The media push, estimated to cost £3.75m, will include advertising on billboards, radio and, television as well as in newspapers. Advertisements will be published in a number of languages to ensure the message is received by as wide an audience as possible to alert those members of the public who do not already know of the need to register within the next two years.
The information drive is being made regardless of the outcome of next week’s votes on leaving the EU. If the UK leaves with a deal, the cut-off point for registrations will be June 30, 2021. If there is no deal, the deadline will be brought forward to December 31, 2020. The public information scheme will be run throughout the duration of the transitionary period.
There are estimated to be 3.8 million EU citizens settled in the UK. So far 150,000 have applied for settled status during a three-phase trial of the phone app that has been running since September. The Home Office said 135,000 of these cases had already been concluded, of which 71% were granted settled status and the rest granted pre-settled status, with none refused.
It is understood that 75% of applicants did not have to provide any supplementary documents to prove their status and 95% used the phone app rather than the post to get their passport or ID document verified. The government has described the application process as simple and fast, with 75% of resolved cases receiving their decision within three days of applying, and 80% saying they found the application easy to complete.
The Home Office is still facing criticism that older people and other vulnerable groups who are not tech savvy may not be able to complete the process using a phone app. It was also criticised when it emerged that the ID verification process did not work on iPhones. Sources in the Home Office have confirmed that they hope to strike a deal with Apple to access its near field recognition technology shortly.
As part of the national rollout, the Home Office is also increasing the number of physical centres around the UK where passport can be verified from 17 to 50 to ensure a good geographical distribution. Areas with high numbers of EU citizens such as Lincolnshire where farms rely heavily on Polish and Romanians for their harvest season, will also receive special attention.
