UK residency application scheme hit by virus outbreak

Citizens from European Union member states seeking permanent residency in the United Kingdom after Brexit have been warned disruption caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak could delay their applications.

Since the scheme opened in March 2019, when the country was supposed to leave the bloc – a process that was not actually legally completed until January 2020 – more than three million people have been granted residency.

The UK is currently in a transition period, scheduled to run until the end of this year, during which the plan was for the country to remain subject to EU regulations, while conducting negotiations about future relations between the UK and its European neighbors.

Downing Street has repeatedly said that there is no prospect of that period being extended, and if necessary the UK will leave under a so-called no-deal Brexit scenario, with no alternative legislative arrangements in place.

This has been widely predicted to be severely disruptive, and would leave many EU nationals unsure of their future, but the all-encompassing nature of the novel coronavirus pandemic has taken over all government business.

The current application registration deadline is June 2021, six months after the planned end of the transition period, although it has been suggested the transition may need to be extended because of the fight against the virus being such a priority.

It is estimated that around 600,000 EU nationals have yet to register, and now they have been warned applications are taking "longer than usual" as the Home Office faces a "challenging time", partly because of government guidelines on people working from home making applications harder to process.

Postal applications are no longer being received, a Home Office blog post said, and phone calls go unanswered. In addition, places where people could go to have vital documents scanned have been temporarily shut.

Documents can still be uploaded via the government-approved app, however, and online advice is available. The Home Office said it was keeping the situation under "constant review" and that it would follow public health guidelines about when it could reinstate the service.

"Where a person eligible for leave under the EU settlement scheme has reasonable grounds for missing the application deadline," the Home Office added, "they will be given a further opportunity to apply."

Immigration lawyer Chetal Patel, from London law firm Bates Wells, said that while the world was having to adapt to the limitations of the current situation, it should not stop people applying.

"You don't need to be physically in the UK to send in an application under the EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme) as the application can be made using a laptop or mobile," she told Personnel Today.

"Whilst the world is adjusting to a new 'business as normal', individuals affected by the EU referendum result need to also continue 'as normal' and get their status now."

Last week the Home Office announced an automatic one-year visa extension for overseas National Health Service staff, and their families, because of the unprecedented current circumstances.