THEY STAY, YOU PAY
Migrants here until 2021...but it’s £50 for you to visit EU
HOME SECRETARY Sajid Javid yesterday unveiled a “generous” post-Brexit pathway for EU migrants to remain in Britain.
But within hours it emerged that Brussels was considering charging British holidaymakers up to £50 to visit the Continent if trade talks collapse.
Almost four million EU nationals and their families will qualify to stay permanently in Britain and access free health care and benefits, the Home Office announced.
Those who have lived here for five years before the Brexit transition period ends at the end of December 2020 will be eligible for “settled status” while others will be given extra time to qualify.
Officials said migrants arriving in December 2020 could qualify for “pre-settled status” with as little as a plane or train ticket to prove residence.
The move means Britain will still be subject to EU freedom of movement until January 2021 at the earliest.
All applicants will undergo criminal record checks, but Home Office documents revealed “only serious or persistent criminals, or anyone who poses a security threat” will likely be deported. Officials admitted low-level offenders who have committed crimes such as shop-lifting will not be forced to leave Britain.
Relatives, including parents, grandparents, siblings or partners, will be able to move to here “at any point” after Brexit.
Non-EU migrants married to European citizens will also be able to stay, even if they are bereaved or divorced, providing they lived in the UK before December 2020.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith told the Daily Express: “I think it is a very generous cut-off.”
He added: “What we have to end is the perpetual open door. We know that people come for a very low paid job and then top it up with tax credits or benefits. That has got to end.”
Tory MP Peter Bone said: “I don’t think it is a very good deal. We have effectively got another two years of free movement.
“When we campaigned to leave the European Union, we said that anyone who was here on the day of the referendum would have got settled status. Now it has translated into the end of the implementation period.”
A small number of people will be allowed to apply for residency this summer. The Home Office said the scheme will be open “fully” by March 30, 2019 – the day after Britain officially departs the bloc.
The final deadline for applications is the end of June 2021. Mr Javid said: “Throughout, we will be looking to grant, not for reasons to refuse.”
Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes added: “EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and to our society. We want them to stay.”
But at the same time draft plans were handed to MEPs outlining proposals to charge Britons up to £50 to travel in Europe.
Former Brexit minister David Jones said: “Many third countries enjoy visa-free access to the EU and given the UK’s historical links, one would not expect the EU to adopt such an apparently perverse position.”
The proposal was drawn up by one of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s closest confidantes SecretaryGeneral Martin Selmayr.
Alp Mehmet, vice-chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “The Government seems to have conceded almost every point demanded by the EU. Meanwhile there is very little evidence that EU member states have done anything to speak of for British residents in their countries.”
Mr Duncan-Smith joined the Home Secretary in calling for EU countries to set out their own arrangements for British expats.
He added: “The EU is not doing anything like what we are doing at the pace we are talking about.”