If an EU citizen is to live legally in Britain after Brexit, he will have to apply for a residence permit from British authorities, which in principle can be submitted by June 30 next year. the financial times However, it has now been written that the British Statistics Office, which serves as a reliable and reliable guide, has about half a million EU citizens less than they could live in the island nation.
According to figures released last month, at the end of May, 3.6 million applications were submitted by EU citizens who wanted to live in the UK after Brexit. Meanwhile, the British Statistics Office estimates that 3.4 million EU citizens live in the UK. The France Télécom survey, based on estimates from EU embassies in the UK, indicates that figures provided by the British Statistics Office (ONS) underestimate the number of EU citizens living in the UK by more than 500,000. However, this also means that It is almost impossible to estimate the number of applicants who may not be granted legal status in the country during the application period, which ends on June 30, 2021, experts have warned, according to France Telecom.
It’s not good that way!
Without knowing the exact numbers, some fear that those who will be eligible for incorporation could lose their post-Brexit legal status from moment to moment, risking deportation after the deadline. If the number of applicants is higher than the government’s estimates, the government can consider the entire resettlement program a success and absolve itself of all responsibility, despite the fact that many more people may get out of this safety net, Mike Poon, 3 million EU citizens warned. European. campaign group.
According to France Télécom, the risk of more people coming out of this possibility has only been exacerbated by the coronavirus epidemic after the closure of embassies and photo centers, where the people concerned can handle the submission of applications.
However, the National Statistics Office will have official data
In principle, the ONS data will provide the most reliable picture of the number of EU and European Economic Area (EEA) citizens living in the UK (excluding Ireland), but the 3.4 million figures do not include certain groups, such as students, those living in temporary housing or apartments Single room, family members of EU and EEA citizens who will also be eligible to apply for permanent residence. The Office for National Statistics acknowledged there were “statistical uncertainties” in its data, but also added that a higher number of applications include Europeans who have already left the UK but can still apply to the program to guarantee their return.
The UK Home Office has also acknowledged that the number of resettlement participants is not fully comparable to the Office for National Statistics estimates, in part because the number of applicants includes non-EU family members of EU citizens and those who qualify but not from the UK.
The Foreign Office told France Telecom that it estimated that around 4 million EU citizens could live in the UK, more than half a million more than the Office for National Statistics estimates. However, most ministries provide different figures to the statistical office in this regard. The Financial Times cites as an example, according to the latest National Statistics Office figures, about 88,000 Dutch people can live in the UK, while the Dutch embassy puts this number at 150,000. The National Statistical Office, for example, has 37,000 Czechs and 109,000 Hungarian citizens, which is Much less than 100,000 by the estimate of the Czech embassy and 150-200,000 by the estimate of the Hungarian embassy. The Financial Times writes that the reason for the discrepancy is methodology. According to a statement issued by the British Home Office within a few days, until May 31, 2020, a Ordered by 101,700 Hungarian Permanent residence permit.
Moreover, some embassies require citizens to register when moving to a particular country, but they no longer require the same when leaving.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the number of appointed applicants has been artificially inflated, although, according to the Ministry of the Interior, this is only insignificant, since those who wish to change their status from temporary to permanent settlers are counted twice.
must change
The Oxford University Migration Center has called on the government to find another way to measure EU citizens living in the UK. The Home Office said the matter would take a flexible and pragmatic approach, and anyone with good reason to miss next year’s deadline could be given an extra opportunity to apply.
