Rural and Environment

EU citizens working in Scotland after Brexit

October 11, 2019 by admin No Comments | Category EU, Uncategorized

Scotland does not want to leave the EU but there is a strong risk that we may end up leaving without a deal in place on 31st October 2019.

While the Scottish Government is doing as much as it can to mitigate the impact of leaving the EU, we cannot mitigate for every impact.

Leaving the EU will mean things we currently take for granted, or which we agreed to as part of a Member State, will no longer stand.

This note sets out what you need to make sure you and your family can continue to live and work in Scotland after Brexit.

Issue

While the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens are now protected, Brexit will mean the end of free movement of persons.

As such any EU, EEA or Swiss citizen wishing to continue to live, work or study in Scotland or the wider UK, will need to apply to the UK Government’s EU Settlement Scheme before the deadline of 30 June 2021 in a deal scenario and 31 December 2020 in a no deal scenario.

The application process is online, accessible via a computer, tablet or mobile phone.
Applicants will need to provide factual information such as name, address and details of identity documents like a passport or national identity card, and a National Insurance number.

Regardless of whether there is a deal or not, EU citizens will continue to be able to come to the UK until December 2020 to live, work and study broadly as they do now.

If you are a migrant or temporary worker from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, then you will also have to apply for pre-settled or settled status in order to stay beyond the end of the transition period.

Action

To make sure you and your family can continue to live and work in Scotland after Brexit, you will need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme:

• EU citizens who have been in the UK for five continuous years can apply for ‘settled status’
• EU citizens who have been in the UK less than five years can apply for ‘pre-settled status’
• Temporary migrant workers can continue to come to the UK as they do now until at least December 2020.

If you are a business that employs EU, EEA or Swiss nationals there are a number of things you can do to support your employee, such as support and give them time to complete their application.

Support

For further information on how to continue working and living in Scotland after Brexit, please see:

• We would urge all EU citizens looking for more information to visit our EU Exit website
• You may wish to visit the GOV.UK website for more information on the UK Government’s EU Settlement Scheme.
• The Scottish Government has provided funding to Citizens Advice Scotland so they can support EU citizens with complex needs

Tags: brexit, EU, EU citizen, Scotland, staying in Scotland

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