The Rights Of 2.6 Million EU Citizens In the UK Hangs In The Balance
A judicial review which could well affect the lives and of 2.6 million EU citizens currently working is due to be heard the day after tomorow, November 1st.
The case concerns allegations that UK ministers are breaking the law on EU citizens’ right and government is breaking the law on EU citizens’ rights.
The High Court has granted the Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA), the statutory body set up after Brexit to safeguard the rights of EU citizens in the UK, a judicial review of Home Office rules.
The IMA alleges that 2.6 million EU citizens are at automatic risk of losing their right to live, work and retire in the UK and may face deportation, because what it believes is an unlawful interpretation of the withdrawal agreement.
The central case of the IMA is that it considers unlawful “the Home Office’s position that citizens who fail to either apply for settled status, or re-apply for pre-settled status, before the expiry of their pre-settled status, automatically lose their rights”.
Under Home Office rules these people have to reapply for the indefinite right to remain in the country once their pre-settled status expires. If they do not, they risk losing the right to be in the UK. The IMA will allege that the result of the loss of such rights is that people with pre-settled status will be “exposed to considerable serious consequences affecting their right to live, work and access social security support and housing in the UK, and will be liable to detention and removal.
We will update you on results of the judicial review.
The Graham Agency, keeping you informed.
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