UK revokes post-Brexit residency rights from EU citizens citing grant errors

The UK Home Office has begun revoking the post-Brexit residency rights of European Union citizens, informing at least 100 individuals that their initial immigration approvals were granted in error. The administrative maneuver targets individuals coming to the end of their five-year pre-settled status period as they attempt to upgrade to permanent residency.

This retrospective review threatens to upend the lives of professionals who have built careers and established roots in Britain since the Brexit transition period ended on 31 December 2020. For European businesses operating in the UK and domestic employers alike, the policy introduces severe uncertainty regarding the stability of the foreign workforce.

Companies face the sudden prospect of losing experienced staff to complex immigration disputes, exacerbating existing labor shortages. One affected worker, a Portuguese national employed across three National Health Service contracts while completing a PhD, reported facing the potential loss of her job, housing, and bank accounts.

The Home Office argues that these individuals failed to provide sufficient evidence confirming their status as relevant European Economic Area citizens before the Brexit deadline. In the case of the NHS worker, who holds Portuguese citizenship by birth but applied without a Portuguese passport, authorities deemed her pre-settled status invalid.

Campaign groups warn that the scale of the labor disruption could be vast. While the Home Office declined to provide total figures, a freedom of information request revealed that 95 revocation letters were issued in March alone.

The3million, an advocacy group for EU citizens in the UK, estimates that hundreds or thousands of people could face similar removal threats. Monique Hawkins, the group's acting chief executive, noted that individuals acted in good faith when applying and building their lives, only to have their foundations removed years later.

The policy has triggered alarm at the Independent Monitoring Authority, the statutory body overseeing the citizens' rights chapter of the EU-UK withdrawal agreement. The authority has formally raised concerns with the Home Office, suggesting the retrospective revocations may be incompatible with the withdrawal agreement.

Advocates argue that under the withdrawal agreement, residency status should only be removed if the action is genuinely proportionate. They accuse the Home Office of bypassing these legal safeguards entirely by issuing these error notices.

The Home Office maintains that individuals stripped of their status can remain in the country until their original pre-settled status expires. During this grace period, affected individuals are expected to seek alternative immigration routes or apply for full settled status, with the right to legally appeal if refused.