EEA Laws & Brexit
EEA Laws & Brexit
As the Brexit policy is now in force, the EEA Regulations will soon be removed and EEA nationals must now come under the Immigration Rules, which is known as the EEA Settlement Scheme. The new Immigration Rules are enabled by the Immigration Act 1971 and will form an immigration decision.
The United Kingdom and European Union have reached an agreement at European Council on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s withdrawal from the European Union. The revised Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration were considered and agreed at European Council on 17 October 2019.
We anticipate that the EEA Settlement Scheme to be phased down, as this provision has only been created to allow the transitional period until all EEA nationals and their family members migrate over to the immigration policy in full.
History of EEA Laws
The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 which have now been mostly repealed and superseded by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 was a piece of British legislation which implemented the right of free movement of EEA nationals and their family members in the United Kingdom. It is based on Directive 2004/38/EC.
The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 permits EEA nationals and their family members to acquire residency in the UK which also includes permanent residency. The policy is now moved into the Immigration Rules, enabled by the Immigration Act 1971.
EEA Settlement Scheme
The new scheme is now part of the Immigration Rules. This allows a person to apply for pre-settled status or settled status. You can find more information by clicking here.
Application process of the EEA Settlement Scheme
As the UKVI have moved to the digital platforms, you can apply for your pre-settled status or settled status online. The application route must be chosen carefully to avoid completing the wrong application, which can lead to the applications being rejected. Once the application route is chosen, the UKVI digital platforms create the application with questions designed and dictated by your answers.
Decisions under the EEA Settlement Scheme, can take around 8-12 weeks, but those differ, as all applications are considered case by case. In some cases, the Home Office may request you to submit further evidences and information.
Future relationship between the UK and the EU
As the UK Government continues to negotiate the entire policies which include trade, travel, immigration to name some, we see a continued changes and these could last decades. The UK’s relationship with EU will be maintained, so in terms of immigration policies, it would have to reflect that relationship.
The aim of the relationship with the EU will remain on a friendly cooperative relationship and the sharing of data & resources. The UK governments will work hard to achieve a balanced agreement that is in the interests of both sides, reflecting the wide range of shared interests.
Any agreement must respect the sovereignty of both parties and the autonomy of our legal orders. It cannot therefore include any regulatory alignment, any jurisdiction for the CJEU over the UK’s laws, or any supranational control in any area, including the UK’s borders and immigration policy.
Taking legal advice on the application of the Brexit policy & EEA Regulations
As we move away from the EEA Regulations, making sure that an application under EEA Settlement Scheme must be applied. You will also be asked to provide the correct information and evidences to support your application.
We at ICS Legal will provide guidance and correct advice on which route to apply under the EEA Settlement Scheme and we find this is essential when considering living & working in the UK. You can speak to one of our UK Immigration Lawyers on 0207 237 3388 or you can email us at info@icslegal.com.
Related FAQ's
Our speciality lies in the field of Immigration, Nationality and EU Law, so it means we always are dealing with this side of the law. We are able to support you in making a correct decision, avoid delays on your case, save money and time, not forgetting the stress of any doubts with your application.
There are many routes available to come to the UK, extend or switch, some of them do not allow extension or even switching. Knowing what is right can be a difficult task and this is why we are here. Simple task of not using the prescribed forms can mean your application is invalid, which means if you have no valid stay, you would have to return back and there is no appeal rights.
Our initial consultations are a chargeable service. We initially discuss the requirements of the application to ensure you meet the requirements and have the documentation required at hand for the submission. It gives you an opportunity to meet us and ask questions.
Each case will be checked thoroughly, everything will be cross referenced so guidelines are met and we will also add our legal document which would outline the Immigration Rules and how the client has satisfied the rules. We use documents that are used by Home Office case workers, so we know exactly what they would look for in your case.
The most important fact is that law constantly changes, policy guidelines and requirements are always changing, so it is best that you always use specialised services to support you. We never compromise our services, our fees remain very competitive but our expertise is at the very highest standard.
We place our clients first, so when you sign the customer care letter and we go through your case file, and we believe that the case would not be successful, we will terminate the agreement and return your documents. We will also provide alternative solutions with no added costs. We also have a cancellation period should you feel you want to withdraw your file.
Please note that all cases cannot be guaranteed as circumstances depends and whether you met guidelines, however the Home Office caseworker can still refuse cases on the balance of probabilities and other factors. Our job would be to prepare your case in the best possible way.
1) You contact us through e-mail or phone.
2) We take some basic information, we ask some relevant questions to understand the type of query and what type of support is required.
3) Your case then gets passed to a case worker.
4) Case Worker would contact you to set up an initial meeting.
5) You attend a consultation, an action plan is drawn up and we find out whether ICS Legal can support your case. A report would be sent where there is a requirement to outline what was discussed and what to do next.
6) You authorise us to be your legal representative by signing our customer care letter.
7) We will then start to request documents and information about your case this will build up your case pack.
8) We will then write our legal report and use Home Office caseworker’s documents to ensure everything has been checked and all requirement have been met.
9) Where possible we will go through every aspect of your case before case submission.
10) We will continue to update you throughout the case life cycle .