Report calls for EU nationals to get UK residency cards

EU citizens with “settled status” to stay in the UK after Brexit should be given residency cards to prove their rights, not be forced to rely on online checks, a parliamentary report has said.

Home Office plans to offer EU nationals a digital code to prove their status risk causing confusion, and could result in individuals losing access to housing and jobs, warned the House of Commons Exiting the EU Committee.

The cross-party committee said the experience of Windrush generation migrants denied benefits and healthcare and even removed from the UK showed the potential for “devastating consequences” for people without the right papers.

Despite the UK and European Commission declaring that the citizens’ rights chapter of Britain’s withdrawal agreement has been finalised, the committee warned that “substantial issues remain unresolved”.

The report raised particular concern about the Home Office’s plans to issue digital codes to over three million EU nationals expected to apply for settled status to live and work in the UK.

Under the proposals, individuals would be expected to give the code to a potential employer or landlord, who would then input it into a Home Office website to access information on their immigration status.

“We are concerned that the Home Office is introducing a new system on a large scale, and which relies upon employers, or landlords, understanding and embracing a new way of working,” said the report.