EU citizens waiting for the Home Office to decide their pre-Brexit residency status should not be removed from the UK if they make a short return visit abroad for business, leisure or family matters, the statutory body for EU citizens’ rights has said.
The Independent Monitoring Authority for Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA) has written to the Home Office to express “serious concerns” about the difficulties applicants on the waiting list face if they leave the country.
Some have gone home to visit relatives, others have gone on holiday but found they were refused entry on return.
The IMA said on Monday that citizens who held a valid “certificate of application” (CoA), issued by the Home Office, could use their document to present to border force officials at airports or ports to show they had the right to travel.
“The IMA’s position is that citizens who hold a valid CoA have the right to leave and re-enter the UK, subject to meeting relevant requirements,” it said in a statement.
The position taken by the IMA is cold comfort for EU citizens already deported, including a 34-year-old Spanish woman who was detained overnight and removed from the UK despite presenting Home Office documents showing her right to live and work in the UK.
Maria, not her real name, had been living in the UK with her British husband and had flown back to Spain to see her sister and her new baby at Christmas but was detained at Luton airport and removed on her return a few days later, leaving her life and job behind her.
Another EU citizen, Greek Cypriot Costa Koushiappis was forcibly removed after he arrived back to Scotland from a short trip to Amsterdam in November.
Unlike Maria, the Edinburgh border officials allowed him three days to sort out his tenancy and his job with his employer, Stuart West-Gray, who described him as a “star” employee at his Scottish motorcycle firm.
The IMA chief executive, Miranda Biddle, said: “Our position is that a citizen with a valid certificate of application has a right to exit and enter the UK while waiting for a decision on their EU settlement scheme application, subject to providing additional documentation required at the border.”
The IMA has written previously to the Home Office to seek clarification of its position as it considers the guidance given to border officials unclear.
Biddles said the IMA was “keen to continue to work with the government” so as to “ensure citizens are not discouraged from exercising their rights”.
It said it was particularly concerned that the Home Office clarify the rules on CoA travel rights before the new system requiring visitors to the UK to have an ”electronic travel authorisations” are enforced.
This is because CoA holders are not eligible for an ETA but are also not exempt from needing an ETA or visa and will therefore need to demonstrate permission to travel to the UK.
The grassroots campaign group the3million said it was “very disappointed” with the IMA as it was effectively agreeing with the Border Force approach of asking EU citizens to carry documents to prove their residence before Brexit on 31 December 2020, which the group said was not their job.
A CoA was sufficient proof of rights until such time as a final decision is taken, the group said.
The Home Office said it would respond to the IMA in due course.
A spokesperson said: “All individuals with a certificate of application are made aware that they may be asked for evidence to show that they qualify under the scheme before they are allowed entry to the UK. Equivalent guidance has been issued to Border Force officers and published online.”
