The Home Office will reportedly lift an August regulation that prohibited EU nationals who unintentionally neglected to apply for EU settled status, making their stay in the nation lawful but nullifying their permanent residency card, according to the Guardian, EU Helpers reports.
The Home Office will now reverse this rule, accepting ignorance as a legitimate explanation for applications for EU Settled status that are submitted after the deadline.
As stipulated in the Brexit separation agreement, the EU-UK Settlement Scheme permits British nationals living in the EU before to Brexit as well as EU citizens living in the UK to remain in their respective nations.
To be able to live in the UK lawfully, nearly six million EU citizens have to apply for status. Although the program was officially terminated in June 2021, applications submitted after the deadline may still be accepted if there was a valid reason.
But in August, the Home Office made the decision to withdraw the justification for a late application—the applicant's "lack of awareness" of the settlement plan.
Due to their status as "irregular" residents, thousands of EU nationals living in the UK may face deportation as a result of this ruling.
In one instance, Silvana, an Italian IT investor, was informed that her permanent residency card held no value when she attempted to renew her child's European health insurance card.
According to a guideline established by the Home Office in August, she would be deported from the nation because her late application could not be justified by her ignorance of the EU settlement plan.
The Home Office has released revised guidelines for caseworkers, stating that late applications from individuals with permanent residency cards "are reasonable grounds" for delays in application to the scheme. This announcement comes in response to criticism from campaigners and EU citizens.
The case was brought to the high court, which ruled in favor of the EU nationals, holding that the British government had no jurisdiction to deny those with pre-settled status their ability to work, live abroad, and get healthcare benefits if they had neglected to seek to have their status updated.
In response, people holding pre-settled status have been granted a two-year extension by the Home Office to apply for the status.