A number of the EU nationals who are living in the Vale of Glamorgan have been successful in their applications to stay in the area after Brexit.
The Home Office revealed that by the end of September, 1,310 EU nationals successfully applied to remain in the Vale after December 31.
The EU Settlement Scheme is in place for EU nationals who would like to stay living in the UK – but they must apply by June 30.
If an EU national has lived in the UK for five years and meets the relevant criteria, they can receive a settled status which allows them to stay in the UK indefinitely. If they have not lived in the UK for five years, they can receive pre-settled status. This will allow them to remain in the UK for five years to be able to meet the criteria, they will then be able to receive settled status and stay in the UK indefinitely.
910 of the 1,330 applications in the Vale of Glamorgan between August 2018 and September 30 were granted settled status. 400 were granted pre-settled status. 20 were either refused, withdrawn or invalid.
The highest number of applications in the Vale was submitted by residents from Poland at 250, Italy and Romania had 130 applicants each and Germany had 120.
50 applicants qualified for the scheme but were not from the European Economic Area. These include family members of EU citizens living in the UK.
MORE NEWS:
- Cancer survivor Soraya Kelly is Hello magazine's star mum
- Care boss warns of consequences if care homes not prioritised for new vaccine
- More than 40 fines issued, as police get 240 calls on New Year's Eve
But Oxford University’s migration observatory and British Future think tank believe that the new immigration rules could hit the social care and hospitality sectors.
British Future director Sunder Katwala said that the new rules require immigrants to meet a £25,400 salary threshold and this may pose issues for some sectors. Foreign graduates will, however, be able to work after they study.
He said: “Despite the additional bureaucratic processes and visa fees, EU migration will continue for graduate professionals in areas like law, science and academia.
“The Government has committed to allowing the NHS to recruit the staff it needs – but has not done the same for social care.
“The most significant impacts are likely to be in social care and hospitality, for roles paying below those salary bands.”
Migration observatory director Madeleine Sumption said: “The UK has certainly become less attractive to EU migrants since the 2016 referendum. Over the past three years, EU migration has fallen substantially.
“The Government has introduced a system that is designed to be easy for EU citizens to apply to, securing their residence rights in the UK.
“For most EU citizens, the process will be very straightforward, but there is a strong risk that some people will fall through the cracks – particularly among vulnerable groups such as victims of abuse and exploitation.”
Across the UK, 3.9million applications were made under the EU Settlement Scheme since the launch. 56 per cent of applicants received settled status, 41.6 per cent were given pre-settled status and 0.4 per cent were refused.
Polish residents provided the scheme with the most applications on 750,000, with Romanians on 640,000 and Italians with 390,000.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel