Abstract
Following Brexit, European Union citizens now find their rights to live and work in the UK have changed and they had to make an application under the European Union Settlement Scheme, established under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, by 30 June 2021 to enable them to continue to live in the UK lawfully. This article examines the experience and perceptions of those navigating the European Union Settlement Scheme and how they feel about life in the UK post-Brexit. It raises questions about identity and belonging. We also examine the other routes European Union nationals, and their family members, are choosing to use to secure their status in the UK. Our research highlights how the impacts of Brexit and European Union Settlement Scheme are unevenly felt and experienced by different European Union national groups. The article concludes that it is likely that we will only be able to measure the true extent of the ‘success’ of the European Union Settlement Scheme after the application gateway has closed on 30 June 2021, by learning what happens to those who fall between the gap, especially those more vulnerable.
Highlights
The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 after a referendum on 23 June 2016 delivered a narrow victory for those voting in favour of ending the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU)
We have examined EEA+ nationals’ experiences of Brexit and EU settled status
We have identified that large numbers of participants in our research have felt unsettled and ‘othered’ by the Brexit process
Summary
The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 after a referendum on 23 June 2016 delivered a narrow victory for those voting in favour of ending the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU). The Office for National Statistics estimated that there were 3 million EU nationals living in the UK, but no data was available on the exact number This figure included Irish citizens, who are eligible for the scheme but do not have to apply to remain in the UK, but it did not include EEA-EFTA and Swiss citizens who must make an application, nor third-country national family members. For many, the EUSS is an achievable, relatively easy application, and the digital-only status will be manageable for them moving forward, in line with the HO’s future policy move towards a largely digital immigration system Even for this group, Brexit has presented a number of challenges as to how life for them has changed, especially how they feel about their life in the UK (Bueltmann, 2019; Guma and Jones, 2019).
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