Recent statistics indicate that approximately 900,000 EU citizens have not yet applied to stay in the UK after Brexit
The figure was released a day after the EU parliament raised concerns that its citizens may face discrimination in the housing and jobs markets and even be subject to deportation after Brexit should they fail to apply for settled status, a special immigration category set up for nationals from member states.
It is estimated that up to 3.6 million EU citizens live in the UK. According to data released by the Home Office, as at December 2019 just over 2.7 million EU citizens and their family members have applied for settled status while more than 1 million EU citizens have now been granted pre-settled status which is allocated to persons who have lived in the UK for less than five years. According to the data, just over 300,000 of the 2,756,100 people who applied for settled status, are still waiting for a decision from the Home Office while six applications were refused on suitability grounds.
Concerns have been raised by lawyers and opposition members of parliament that rights under the government’s settled status scheme are not automatic and could possibly exclude vulnerable EU citizens who may unwittingly become illegal overstayers if they are not successfully registered under the scheme by the June 2021 deadline.
