EU citizens' post-Brexit residency set to be secured

Tuesday 03 July 2018

EU citizens resident in Guernsey once the UK leaves the EU will have their immigration rights secured, the President for Home Affairs has said.

The Population Management Law which operates in Guernsey and any domestic laws controlling employment and residence in Alderney and Sark will continue to apply as now.

Following news last week that the UK Government has reached an agreement with the European Union on EU citizens’ rights, these proposals for a similar EU Settlement Scheme to operate in Guernsey will be put to the States in due course.  

EU citizens and their family members currently living in the island do not need to do anything at this stage. There will be no change to the immigration status of EU citizens and their family members living here before Brexit and throughout the implementation period which runs until 31 December 2020. 

More information will be published once it becomes available. 

Deputy Mary Lowe, President of the Committee for Home Affairs, (pictured) said: "Following the agreement between the UK Government and the EU on this important issue, we wanted to reassure EU citizens and their families living in the Bailiwick that work is progressing to develop the detail of our own EU Settlement Scheme. The States of Guernsey has already committed to securing the immigration rights of EU nationals and their families who are part of our community, and it is likely that our scheme will be relatively similar to that agreed between the UK and EU.

"It is important to note that the Bailiwick’s EU Settlement Scheme will be operated under immigration legislation and is therefore entirely separate to the Population Management Law which operates in Guernsey, and any domestic laws controlling employment and residence in place in Alderney and Sark, which will continue to apply as now."

The UK intends to operate a scheme that will allow EU citizens and their family members to remain in the UK after Brexit. To secure their rights in the UK, EU citizens and their family members will need to go through a simple application process which will confirm their status in the UK for as long as they wish to stay. 

People who by 31 December 2020 have been continuously and lawfully living in the UK for five years will be able to apply to stay indefinitely. Anyone arriving by 31 December 2020, but who won’t have lived in the UK for five years by the time of Brexit, will be able to apply for pre-settled status until they have reached the five-year threshold and will then be able to apply for settled status and remain in the UK indefinitely. 

The settlement scheme in the UK will open in a phased way from later this year and will be fully open by 30 March 2019. 

Further information about the UK scheme can be found here: gov.uk/guidance/status-of-eu-nationals-in-the-uk-what-you-need-to-know.