EU nations unhappy with UK immigration stance

Dismay at 'settled status' program could end in legal action if deadlock not fixed

Some European Union nations have reportedly urged the bloc to take legal action against the United Kingdom over the way it is treating EU citizens who live in the country.

The nations want the European Commission, which is the bloc's executive branch, to get guarantees from London that EU citizens will not be forcibly removed if they fail to successfully follow the UK's new rules.

The British government has insisted any EU citizen who was living and working in the UK for five years prior to its exit from the bloc is entitled to "settled status" and can continue to live in Britain, claim welfare benefits, and use the healthcare system, as long as they applied for the status before the June 30 deadline.

Under a system that was launched in June 2018, EU nationals who had not been in the UK for five years before Dec 31, 2020 could apply for "pre-settled status" before the same deadline.

The Financial Times said "several EU diplomats with knowledge of internal discussions" have said some member states are unhappy both with the deadline and with the fact that people who get pre-settled status must then apply for settled status after they have chalked up five years in the UK.

The paper quoted an unnamed EU diplomat as saying the requirement went against both the spirit and the letter of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

"Missing the deadline for settled status for EU citizens with pre-settled status after accumulating five years of residence in the UK cannot lead to the automatic loss of their status," the diplomat said.

The Financial Times also quoted an unnamed EU official who said Brussels has repeatedly raised its concerns with London.

"We believe that citizens should be placed above the fray," the official added.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who came under pressure to either extend or scrap the June 30 deadline, or to simply grant automatic settled status to people who are qualified, said when told people were running out of time: "I urge them to get on with it."

More than 5.6 million EU citizens successfully applied to remain in the UK before the deadline, with around 2 million of them getting the interim "pre-settled status".

The Guardian newspaper, meanwhile, said the UK's Brexit rights regulator has warned businesses and public bodies not to discriminate against EU citizens who are not immediately able to show they have either settled or pre-settled status.

The Independent Monitoring Authority said that, while EU citizens without such documents will ultimately not be able to live or work in the UK, employers and landlords must remember many applications are still being processed.

Kathryn Chamberlain, chief executive of the authority, said: "If EU citizens feel that their rights have been, or are likely to be, breached, they should complain directly to the public body concerned."