Hopes have been raised for EU citizens who have faced being removed from the UK post-Brexit even while they wait on their applications to stay, after a statutory body wrote to the Home Office demanding clarity on their legal right to go on holiday or visit family abroad.
The move comes after a number of cases came to light involving the removal of EU citizens when they returned to the UK after a visit abroad.
They include a Greek Cypriot who was removed from Scotland last month despite being told by the Home Office it could take another two years for his application for post-Brexit pre-settled status to be considered because of a backlog.
At the time he said it was unfair to leave people whose rights were supposedly protected under the UK-EU withdrawal agreement in effect unable to visit family for years.
The Independent Monitoring Authority said on Monday it had written to the Home Office about a number of concerns including the status of a “certificate of application”, which is issued by the Home Office to give EU citizens evidence to show employers, landlords and the NHS they are entitled to be in the country while their case is pending.
“The IMA has written to the Home Office after receiving information that citizens who hold a valid certificate of application (CoA) are having issues at the UK border, including being denied entry to the UK or are subject to removal directions. This includes administrative review of applications pending,” it said.
The IMA said that while the CoA “does not confirm that the person has immigration status in the UK under the EU settlement scheme”, it could be used to evidence the temporary protection of their rights while their application or an administrative review of a negative decision is pending.
Under the law, those still turned away by a Home Office administrative review are entitled to appeal further at a tribunal.
Costa Koushiappis’s original application for the pre-settled status given to those in the country for less than five years before Brexit was rejected but he immediately requested an administrative review.
He was detained at Edinburgh airport and despite showing his CoA and telling Border Force officers that he had a job and a flat, they ordered his removal.
His lawyer, Andrew Jordan, said at the time that all he was asking was that his client and other EU citizens be “given a chance” and that the due process of the law be allowed to take its full course.
In January, a Spanish woman was removed from the country after she made a Christmas trip to Spain to see her family and newborn niece.