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BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Theresa May has confirmed her government will scrap the application fee for EU citizens who want to remain in the UK after Brexit.
EU citizens and their families had been asked to apply to a new settlement scheme to continue living there after June 2021.
Irish citizens are not required to apply to the scheme, but other EU citizens were being asked to pay £65 if they were over 16 and £32.50 for those under 16 years of age.
There was significant criticism of the scheme at the end of last year with many EU citizens expressing anger at having to pay to remain in Britain. Today the prime minister said the scheme would go ahead but without the need to pay a fee.
“Having listened to concerns from members and organisations like The3Million group I can confirm today when we roll out the scheme in full on the 30th of March the government will waive the application fee so that there is no financial barrier for any EU nationals who wish to stay,” she told MPs in Westminster.
“And anyone who has or will apply during a pilot phase will have their fee reimbursed.”
May made the comments as she announced her much-anticipated “plan B” on Brexit following last week’s defeat of her original deal. She told MPs she plans to return to Brussels to discuss changes to the deal she agreed with EU leaders last month.
May said she believes progress can be made on the Irish backstop and she will be consulting with MPs about possible changes before going back to the EU for further talks.
The UK prime minister ruled out holding a second referendum, as she said it would create a concerning precedent.
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Will UK citizens be asked to pay for residents permits if they live in Spain, or France or Germany?
I see over in Belgium, any UK citizens resident there will have to exchange their UK driving licences for a Belgian one, or do a Belgian driving test… So when they go to the UK, can they drive on an EU/Belgiant licence?
This is just one bit of red tape in one of the 27 EU countries, not gonna be an easy road for UK citizens abroad.
@Dotty Dunleary: Exchange of a non EU licence for a licence in an EU member state is a matter for each EU member individually. For example Spain will exchange many South American countries but Ireland will not. That is the situation for people who take up residency in the EU. However driving on a foreign licence when visiting for holidays is governed by 3 U.N. traffic conventions, unless superseded by a direct agreement between the countries. That is why we have an international drivers permit. So in short how you use your drivers licence when you go on holidays when you go outside the EU is nothing got to do with the EU. Brexit will not change this because it is a UN convention that governs it.
@John Horan: individual agreements. Same with Canadian Provinces they needed to have individual agreements with Ireland for straight swap of driving licenses up until recently you had to sit a driving test again to get one.
@Niall Carry: you still have to sit the driving test. You just don’t have to have the compulsory number of lesson stamps to do it.
Portugal announced today they’ll have a fast track lane in airports for British passport holders. They know who brings in the shekels.
And what about British citizens who have lived for decades here in Ireland, but can’t get Irish citizenship? The small print and cost is are rediculous! At least Britain is going to allow EU people to register for citizenship and have the right to remain in Britain. I see no such offer in return :(
@Jane Alford: Doesn’t apply to British citizens in Ireland or vice a versa as the common travel zone will continue to stand – for the moment anyway.
@Jane Alford: the registration is for settled status. Not citizenship. British citizens in Ireland don’t need settled status, nor do Irish citizens in the UK. Home Office explicitly advises Irish citizens not to apply. So the status between Ireland and UK is indeed fully reciprocal.
@Jane Alford: don’t forget the cost nearly a thousand euro
And after a no-deal Brexit? Citizenship currently costs over €1500, plus you have to have continuously worked for the previous 5 years, plus a couple of other impossible conditions. If you are a “refugee” you can get citizenship with no conditions, if you have earned good money, paid tens of thousands in tax, but contract you don’t qualify :(
@Jane Alford: might have to do with the study a few years ago that found that 30% of British people living in Ireland are on welfare.
Too right hope they 4efund those who paid it as well
@ed w: oops missed that they are.
Can’t understand why Britain left . They could surely have negotiated the bits they didn’t like Maggie did
@brendan stafford: because Cameron was running scared of ukip and was too stupid to realise the sort if campaign based on outright lies would create such a close result. The idea was to shut up ukip.
I’m certain this was exact sinario was in a political comedy a few years back… Stephen Fry was in it, anyone remember what it was called???
Was a stupid suggestion to begin with. Idiotic in fact..
If we travel to a non-EU country and take our own cars, we will need an insurance ‘Green Card’, which we can request from our insurers , so that our car insurance will be valid in that country. It is unlikely that we won’t need one if travelling between the Ireland/UK and vice versa, as the common travel area is being left in place, for tge time being.
UK motorists taking their cars to Ireland/continent will most likely need a green card as well.
have your say