French-born Claude Bosi, who runs Bibendum restaurant in London, has described the system as “inhuman”
Bosi, a two Michelin-starred chef who has been in the UK for 23 years says he now feels unwelcome after his application to remain in the country after Brexit was refused. He had received a letter refusing his application after he sought permanent residency rather than applying for settled status using the EU settlement scheme (the “Settlement Scheme”) which is available to EU citizens only.
Bosi has lived in the UK since 1997, has two children and is expecting a third imminently.
He was advised by the Home Office that he had failed to provide adequate evidence to show he was a person qualified to remain and should reapply providing five years worth of P60 tax records, rather than the single P60 that he had supplied. The correspondence he received also suggested that the Settlement Scheme – which was launched by the Home Office in March 2019 – had yet to be put into effect, stating at its conclusion that “a new scheme for EU citizens” would be “announced in due course”.
The case highlights a failure on the part of the UK government to raise awareness of migrants’ rights under the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The Settlement Scheme had been touted as easy to understand and simple to execute and the department claims to have dealt with 2.7 million applications in less than a year.
Settled status granted under the Settlement Scheme is a version of indefinite leave to remain but is confusingly referred to as “ILR”, “settlement” or even “permanent residence” in the application process. Indefinite leave to remain is an immigration status granted to migrants under powers conferred by the UK’s Immigration Act, 1971. As it is issued under primary legislation, indefinite leave to remain is a much stronger status than a document certifying permanent residence because it is not going to be repealed in the near future.
The Settlement Scheme is the British government’s way of transitioning EU residents to the UK’s domestic system of immigration control so their presence in the UK will continue to be lawful after Brexit. It is recommended that all persons under the old permanent residence regime apply for settled status using the Settlement Scheme.
In response to Bosi’s claims, a Home Office spokesperson said Bosi had made an application for a permanent residence card which EU citizens living in the UK are not required or encouraged to get at this time, and his application for permanent residence was not successful because he had not provided sufficient evidence to show he met all of the criteria required to be issued such a card. The spokesperson confirmed that steps had been taken to assist Bosi with his application under the Settlement Scheme.
EU citizens and their families have until June 30, 2021 to apply to remain in the UK.
