BRITAIN WARNS EU CITIZENS OVER BREXIT RESIDENCY DEADLINE

LONDON-Britain warned that European citizens who fail to apply for Brexit’s new immigration status before deadline will be deported. In line with this, citizens who met listed exemptions will qualify for leniency.

The government was reported to have already drafted a closed list of exemptions including physical and mental disability and children whose parents did not register on their behalf.

The border control scheme was said to be Britain’s biggest shake-up in decades as it stopped prioritizing EU immigrants over those from other territories and countries. To remain in Britain, majority of EU citizens need to apply for permission to be granted by the British government.

The government often receives criticism for failing to establish citizenship legality of those who live in Britain. Just last year, in what was known as the Windrush scandal, thousands of Caribbean migrants were wrongly denied from basic rights as some lost jobs and others were deported.

Based on the latest report of the government, half of the estimated 3.5 million EU citizens already secured their new legal status prior to Dec. 31, 2020 cutoff.

Immigration lawyers were invited to read the government’s guidelines at Home Office. The said draft has a separate section discussing the consequences of EU nationals who will fail to meet the deadline. However, the release date of the draft is still unconfirmed.

A general election will happen on December 12 and in the event that the Conservative government loses, possible revisions could be implemented.