EU nationals living in the UK may be rejected by landlords, employers, and mortgage lenders when they apply to change their status because of an abnormality in the digital residence permit issued by the government.
Before obtaining public or financial services, EU nationals must prove that they have obtained Settled or pre-settled status By the Ministry of the Interior.
As of December 31, 2020, nearly 2.3 million people living in the United Kingdom have been granted pre-settlement status. If someone has lived in the country for five consecutive years, they can be upgraded to a settled status.
However, when someone applies for an upgrade, the confirmation of their pre-settlement status is automatically removed from their online permit, making it impossible for them to prove that they are legal in the UK.
A Hungarian national who did not want to be named is at risk of losing the house he bought with his girlfriend because his mortgage lender refused to accept his permit as evidence of his right to live in the UK.
He was granted pre-settlement status in 2019, but when he applied for settlement status in April, his current status was removed from his online permit. It now only shows the request certificate.
“Because the system of the Ministry of the Interior did not provide me with any other official means to prove my legal status in the UK except through the online database, I am now in a situation of “not legal enough” and unable to obtain the basic services I deserve. ,”He said.
After an Italian policy analyst cancelled his pre-settlement status on his permit, his purchase of a house was also threatened. He said that the service desk of the Ministry of the Interior told him it was a technical malfunction.
However, the Ministry of the Interior insists that this is an approved procedure. A spokesperson said: “If an individual holds a pre-settlement status and subsequently applies for a settlement status, the settlement status application certificate will be displayed in their account.” “If they wish, they can call the settlement settlement center and request Their accounts show their pre-settlement status.”
However, callers of the helpline faced waiting hours without results. The Hungarian national said that he spent more than 11 hours on the line trying to solve this problem.
He also submitted online queries and e-mail complaints. “The automatic reply says’our goal is to reply to you within 20 working days’,” he said. “We don’t have that much time to lose the house because of them.” After the Guardian intervened, his permit was adjusted, and he was granted a permanent residence thereafter.
Activity group, three millionSupports the rights of EU residents in the UK and has reported this issue to the UK Independent monitoring agency for civil rights agreements, A public institution.
It said it has received letters from people who may lose their jobs because their pre-settlement status is no longer visible. The online system also cannot show when an applicant appealed a rejected application. Rather, it just means that the application has been rejected.
“Views and proofs that the system cannot properly handle the progress of individuals through the EU settlement plan,” a 3 million spokesperson said.
“Unlike the online status that shows the application history or reflects the current correct rights of the individual, it seems to show the most restrictive status. A woman was denied pre-settlement status because she provided insufficient evidence in the application and was renewed before the deadline. Applied, but her views and proof of identity still indicate that her application was rejected and has nothing to do with the new application.”
Activists claim that EU residents are discriminated against because, unlike other overseas immigrants, they do not have a paper copy of a residence permit. Instead, they must prove their legitimacy through a shared code, which allows the service provider to view its status online.
Two months after the deadline for settlement and pre-settlement identity applications, the report showed that many people were unable to obtain mortgages or open bank accounts because financial institutions had not adjusted their automated systems to accept digital shared codes instead of supporting documents.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior said: “The EU Reconciliation Program provides people with a safe, digital state that can prove their rights in the future. This can be easily shared with employers, landlords and other organizations (including banks and other financial institutions). To prove the individual’s rights and access to the service.
“From October 2019 to June 2021, the online inspection service has seen organizations inspecting immigration status have viewed personal data more than 640,000 times. Guidelines for individuals and inspection organizations are widely available on gov.uk.
