When Trudi, a German citizen who has lived in the UK for over 60 years, tried to return home from a recent holiday abroad, she was blocked at the border and experienced a traumatic two days before being allowed to fly home.
She is not alone in facing such ordeals. The problems have been growing over a number of years. Let’s take a look back at where this all started.
Promises to EU citizens in the UK after Brexit
When the UK (33 million British people) voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, David Cameron assured “European citizens living here that there will be no immediate changes in your circumstances”.
Perhaps the important words here were “no immediate changes”, the implication being that there might be changes in the future, as indeed there were – significant ones.
Settled status – comparable to UK nationals?
Cameron’s successor Theresa May appeared to continue this assurance, publishing proposals on safeguarding the rights of EU citizens a year later. These included the plan to introduce a new ‘settled status’.
All those who had lived in the UK continuously for over five years were entitled to settled status – though they had to apply for it. The then PM promised: “Those EU citizens who are granted settled status will be treated like a comparable UK national, entitled to broadly the same rights and benefits.”
So far so good?
However, by the time Boris Johnson became PM, there were concerns that EU citizens would become de facto illegal immigrants if they did not apply for settled status (the deadline was 30 June 2021): their rights were not conferred automatically.
Ongoing problems with digital eVisas
A major, ongoing issue with settled status is that it is only available digitally, as an eVisa. There are no physical immigration documents and you need a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account to access the eVisa.
Grassroots organisation the3million, formed in 2016 to protect the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, has been collecting evidence about the problems with digital-only visas since 2020. In their report, The Digital Status Crisis, they highlight commonly-experienced issues, including errors in eVisa information, difficulties in setting up and accessing the UKVI accounts and lack of support when things go wrong.
They particularly point out the problems that EU citizens with settled status may experience in returning to the UK after going on holiday overseas. With the introduction of the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), since 25 February this year everyone (not just visitors) has to “demonstrate that they have permission to enter the UK before being allowed to board” a flight. The group emphasises the importance of keeping UKVI accounts updated with passports and other documents or problems may arise.
Trudi’s story – “I’ve lived in the UK for over 60 years and they won’t let me in”
This new requirement may explain what happened to Trudi recently when trying to return to the UK with her husband after a holiday in Madeira.
In her late 80s, Trudi, a German citizen and long-standing British resident with settled status, was booked on an Easyjet flight to Gatwick from Funchal airport. She went through passport checks without a problem but was stopped at the gate by Easyjet staff who said she did not have the correct information to fly. She travels abroad a great deal and had never experienced problems flying back to the UK before.
Trudi was carrying a paper which states that she has settled status for life, but she was told that her German passport did not match the digital information held on her, and was not allowed to catch her flight. The attendant said, “Anyone could have falsified that bit of paper” and would not budge, despite Trudi pleading her age and ill health. Understandably, she was very upset.
Her husband, a British citizen, could have flown but stayed with her. Trudi said, “We were taken to an office at the airport where the problem was resolved” and they were re-booked on to a flight the next day. Trudi and her husband found a hotel overnight, but unfortunately, all flights were cancelled the following day because of storms.
The couple then had to spend “a most miserable night on a hard bench at the airport” as all the hotels were “snapped up”. There was no help available at all: “All the staff went home!” They were exhausted from the events of the previous day and anxious about getting home on the re-booked flight.
Family and friends back in the UK were very concerned. They sent supportive emails which helped to reassure Trudi and her husband. Trudi was finally allowed to board a flight home. She told me: “If there had been a problem the second time I would have probably screamed and had a breakdown.” She spent a great deal of money on new flight tickets, hotel for one night and other expenses.
After finally returning home, Trudi wrote to Easyjet and received an apology, but has yet to receive any compensation for the extra flights. She thinks the problem arose because she had a new German passport which had not been linked to her UKVI account. She said, “My grandchildren have sorted it out. They’ve linked my status to the new passport and I’m now all digital!”
Failed promises?
Apart from ongoing problems with eVisas, the introduction of the ETA means that airport staff are checking all those with non-British passports more carefully. Trudi’s is not an isolated case. The Guardian recently reported that another German woman living in the UK had been blocked from returning home because her settled status had been “red-flagged”.
Many people with dual nationality have also been having severe problems at the border because of new rules.
The 3milllion group commented: “The level of error is unacceptable…To add insult to injury, the Home Office denies all liability for the losses people face from eVisa errors.”
Before Brexit, EU citizens living in the UK could travel freely to and from the UK under freedom of movement rules. Despite promises after the referendum, it seems as if their rights have been severely curtailed.
For information and support about EU citizens, eVisas and travel back to the UK, see: https://the3million.org.uk/digital-status-crisis# and https://the3million.org.uk/travel-to-the-uk
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