Irish Citizens will retain UK free movement rights after Brexit

Prime Minister Theresa May will give free movement rights to Irish citizens after the UK leaves the European Union, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

The paper is calling the offer a “Schengen” style deal between Britain and Ireland, although this would go beyond a border-less travel area. However, we are still awaiting the Government’s formal proposal to the EU on sensitive issue of the Northern Irish border, straddling miles of country roads and farmland.

Although it has barely been mentioned, Britain and Ireland, along with the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, has enjoyed an open border area since 1923, almost 50 years before they joined the Common Market - the free trade area which evolved into the European Union we know today. The Common Travel Area (CTA) allowed Irish citizens to live, work and remain in the UK as settled residents without filling in Indefinite Leave to Remain forms.

Many of my own Irish relatives came to the UK in the 1960’s with no passport and never needed one to travel back and forth between Britain and Ireland. In the 1950's and 1960's, it was the Irish who did the jobs the British workers did not want to do, such as road construction and care.  

I had many childhood holidays in Ireland long before I eventually applied for my first British passport.

There is also talk of CCTV cameras and automated number plate technology to track the movement of goods in vehicles across the Irish border, as part of a lighter customs regime.

With unelected EU officials playing a game of pre-negotiation hardball, it looks like the UK will have little option but leave the single market and customs union in a so-called hard Brexit.

The Brexit negotiations are creating uncertainty in the markets and with EU migrants, even though Theresa May announced that they are welcome to remain in the UK indefinitely.

The number of EU, as well as non-EU nurses applying to work in the UK has fallen dramatically, and thousands of British nurses are taking jobs overseas in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

See also:

EU migrants welcome to remain indefinitely

EU nurses coming to the UK drops by 90% since Brexit

Cyprus, the fastest route to EU citizenship and European passports for you and your family

Fines issued to landlords under right-to-rent offences

Turn Your Passion into Profit

Buy Property With None Of Your Own Money....

You can obtain the report free, by clicking here... 

EU migrants welcome to remain in UK indefinitely as Prime Minister outlines special settled status deal

Prime Minister Theresa May announced today plans to allow EU citizens living in the UK to remain here as residents following Brexit designed to put their "anxiety to rest".

Prime Minister Theresa May

Briefing MP’s in the parliament on the outcome of Friday’s EU summit, Mrs May confirmed that all EU nationals lawfully resident for at least five years will be able to apply for "settled status" and to bring spouses and children, the BBC reports.

EU migrants who arrived after a date yet to be agreed will have two years to "regularise their status" but will not enjoy the same rights.

The government has published a document summarising the UK's offer to EU citizens, which you can read here.

May said she wanted to give reassurance and certainty to the 3.2 million EU citizens living in the UK - in addition to citizens of the three EEA countries and Switzerland – as they are an "integral part of the economic and cultural fabric" of the UK.

However, she wants any deal on their future legal status and rights to be reciprocal and also give certainty to the 1.2 million British expats living on the continent after the UK leaves the EU - expected to be on 29 March 2019.

This promise could prove difficult to keep, as EU countries, such as France and Spain, already have less advantageous conditions for British expats than offered to EU citizens living and working in the UK. 

For instance, retired Brits are now facing the bleak prospect of paying for expensive health insurance or jumping on an Easyjet flight home every time they need treatment. This option could become closed to them if they are no longer resident in the UK.

The main points of the UK's proposal to EU citizens are:

• EU migrants granted settled status will be able to live, work, study and claim benefits as they can now
• The important cut-off date for eligibility will be no earlier than 29 March 2017 and no later than 29 March 2019
• EU family members of EU citizens living abroad will be allowed to return and apply for settled status
• Those EU nationals in the UK for less than five years at the specified date will be allowed to continue living and working in the UK and once resident for five years, they can apply for settled status
• Migrants arriving after the cut-off point will be able to stay temporarily, however, they should have "no expectation" that they will be granted permanent residence
• A period of "blanket residence permission" with less of the onerous requirements may apply to give officials time to process applications to stay in the UK
• The Home Office will no longer request evidence that EU citizens who weren't working held "comprehensive sickness insurance"

Those granted settled status, which is the same as ‘indefinite leave to remain’ (ILR) or permanent residence, will be "treated as if they were UK citizens for healthcare, benefits and pensions".

Mrs May added that the process of application – currently an 85-page form - would be simplified and a "light touch" approach applied to EU citizens, although she did say that criminal record checks will still be carried out when pressed by opposition MP's. 

Non-EU citizens will continue to endure the ever-changing lengthy Home Office forms and increasing high fees in order to gain indefinite leave to remain in the UK.  

"Under these plans, no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave at the point the UK leaves the EU," Mrs May said.

The widely expected plan should be good news for migrants worried about their post-Brexit status in the UK. Since Britons voted to leave the EU last year there has been a sharp increase in applications for ILR and UK citizenship. It has been suggested that those who have already obtained ILR may still have to apply for settled status.

Croatian citizens are currently subject to a 7 year restriction - similar to those imposed on previous EU entrants Bulgaria and Romania - on working from the date Croatia joined the EU.

Despite fears that hundreds of thousands or European citizens living here would return home, most seem to have remained as they have already made their life in the UK either running businesses or holding down good jobs.

UK property prices have started to fall slightly following the Brexit vote and recent general election which saw the Conservatives lose their overall majority.

See also:

UK election splits the country and calls for a softer Brexit approach

Cyprus, the fastest route to EU citizenship and European passports for you and your family

Fines issued to landlords under right-to-rent offences

Turn Your Passion into Profit

EU migrants welcome to remain in UK indefinitely as Prime Minister outlines special settled status deal

Prime Minister Theresa May announced today plans to allow EU citizens living in the UK to remain here as residents following Brexit designed to put their "anxiety to rest".

Briefing MP’s in the parliament on the outcome of Friday’s EU summit, Mrs May confirmed that all EU nationals lawfully resident for at least five years will be able to apply for "settled status" and to bring spouses and children, the BBC reports.

EU migrants who arrived after a date yet to be agreed will have two years to "regularise their status" but will not enjoy the same rights.

The government has published a document summarising the UK's offer to EU citizens, which you can read here.

May said she wanted to give reassurance and certainty to the 3.2 million EU citizens living in the UK - in addition to citizens of the three EEA countries and Switzerland – as they are an "integral part of the economic and cultural fabric" of the UK.

However, she wants any deal on their future legal status and rights to be reciprocal and also give certainty to the 1.2 million British expats living on the continent after the UK leaves the EU - expected to be on 29 March 2019.

This promise could prove difficult to keep, as EU countries, such as France and Spain, already have less advantageous conditions for British expats than offered to EU citizens living and working in the UK. 

For instance, retired Brits are now facing the bleak prospect of paying for expensive health insurance or jumping on an Easyjet flight home every time they need treatment. This option could become closed to them if they are no longer resident in the UK.

The main points of the UK's proposal to EU citizens are:

• EU migrants granted settled status will be able to live, work, study and claim benefits as they can now
• The important cut-off date for eligibility will be no earlier than 29 March 2017 and no later than 29 March 2019
• EU family members of EU citizens living abroad will be allowed to return and apply for settled status
• Those EU nationals in the UK for less than five years at the specified date will be allowed to continue living and working in the UK and once resident for five years, they can apply for settled status
• Migrants arriving after the cut-off point will be able to stay temporarily, however, they should have "no expectation" that they will be granted permanent residence
• A period of "blanket residence permission" with less of the onerous requirements may apply to give officials time to process applications to stay in the UK
• The Home Office will no longer request evidence that EU citizens who weren't working held "comprehensive sickness insurance"

Those granted settled status, which is the same as ‘indefinite leave to remain’ (ILR) or permanent residence, will be "treated as if they were UK citizens for healthcare, benefits and pensions".

Mrs May added that the process of application – currently an 85-page form - would be simplified and a "light touch" approach applied to EU citizens, although she did say that criminal record checks will still be carried out when pressed by opposition MP's. 

Non-EU citizens will continue to endure the ever-changing lengthy Home Office forms and increasing high fees in order to gain indefinite leave to remain in the UK.  

"Under these plans, no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave at the point the UK leaves the EU," Mrs May said.

The widely expected plan should be good news for migrants worried about their post-Brexit status in the UK. Since Britons voted to leave the EU last year there has been a sharp increase in applications for ILR and UK citizenship. It has been suggested that those who have already obtained ILR may still have to apply for settled status.

Croatian citizens are currently subject to a 7 year restriction - similar to those imposed on previous EU entrants Bulgaria and Romania - on working from the date Croatia joined the EU.

Despite fears that hundreds of thousands or European citizens living here would return home, most seem to have remained as they have already made their life in the UK either running businesses or holding down good jobs.

UK property prices have started to fall slightly following the Brexit vote and recent general election which saw the Conservatives lose their overall majority.

See also:

UK election splits the country and calls for a softer Brexit approach

Cyprus, the fastest route to EU citizenship and European passports for you and your family

Fines issued to landlords under right-to-rent offences

Turn Your Passion into Profit

How will UK Immigration changes on 6 April affect you?

This year the Home Office has implemented a number of key changes to the UK Immigration Rules, including introducing recommendations by the Migration Advisory Committee to managed migration and Tier 2 working visas, most of which will take effect on 6 April 2017.

Tier 2 sponsoring employers and those applying or Tier 2 working visas or work permits to work in the UK should take note of the following new requirements:

Immigration Skills Charge

As announced by UK Immigration Matters last month, an Immigration Skills Charge of £1000 per skilled worker per year will be levied on employers in the Tier 2 (General) and Tier 2 (ICT) categories, reduced to £364 for small and charitable sponsors.  The money raised by the tax will be used  for training to help reduce skills gaps in the UK workforce. The charge will not apply to Ph.D.-level occupations, ICT graduate trainees, and those switching in country from Tier 4 student visas to Tier 2

Overseas Criminal Record Certificates

The UK Home Office is extending the requirement to provide criminal record certificates for certain occupations to Tier 2 (General) applicants and their adult dependent partners. The requirement will not apply to those applying under the Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer (ICT)) route.

Migrants applying from overseas after 6 April 2017 where the main applicant is coming to work in the UK in the education, health, or social care sector will be required to obtain criminal record certificates.

Immigration Health Surcharge

First introduced in 2015, non-EEA migrants applying for Tier 2 (ICT) and their dependants will be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge of £200 per person per year. This also applies to non-EEA nationals in the UK and applying to extend their visas.

Tier 2 Application changes

The Home Office frequently change application forms, so always check the latest version before submitting an application. Minimum salary threshold for Tier 2 (General) experienced workers is increasing by £5000 from £25,000 to £30,000, but will be held at £20,800 for “new entrants”.

The Tier 2 category covers UK companies employing or “sponsoring” non-EEA nationals to work in skilled jobs in the UK. The threshold and entry bar has been rising for a number of years for non-EEA workers and there are far less migrants coming to work or study in the UK, in comparison to the Blair government years and we are now seeing net migration falling.

The main changes include:

• A temporary exemption to the Tier 2 (General) minimum salary threshold will apply for nurses, medical radiographers, paramedics, and secondary school teachers in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, and Mandarin until July 2019.
• The Shortage Occupation List (jobs listed in this list mean sponsors do not have to carry out Resident Labour Market Tests) has been amended to include secondary school teachers in combined science, computer science, and Mandarin. However, secondary school teachers in chemistry are being removed from the Shortage Occupation List.
• The minimum salary for indefinite leave to remain applicants submitted on or after 6 April 2022 will increase to £37,900.

Relocation of High-value Business to the UK

In order to encourage the relocation of a high-value business and significant new inward investment projects into the UK, some changes are being made to Resident Labour Market Test where the sponsor is a newly registered  branch or subsidiary of an overseas business and the investment involves new capital of £27 million or the creation of at least 21 new British jobs.

Visitor visa rules have been changed so applications for visitor visas can be made at any post in the world designated by the UK Home Office.

EU Passport in 6 Months

Britain is not the only country trying to attract high net worth individuals and businesses. EU countries like Cyprus, Malta and Portugal all offer citizenship, and EU passports in return for varying levels of direct investment,

EU member Cyprus offers probably the fastest and most flexible route to citizenship with no residency requirement and a 6 month application process for individuals with at least 2 million Euros to invest in Cypriot property via their investor programme.

See also:

Fines issued to landlords under right-to-rent offences

Pop star Lily Allen in NHS immigration spat on Twitter after her two-year-old daughter had to wait to see a doctor at A&E

Singer songwriter Lily Allen has once again got involved in a public dispute on social media, this time over an argument about immigration after criticising NHS cuts after her daughter's wait at accident and emergency (A&E), the Daily Mail reports.

Lily Allen

Lily, 31-year-old said she took her two-year-old daughter, Marnie, to hospital after she impaled her neck on railings, but was put out when they had to wait  (like the rest of us) despite having a serious injury.

Then Allen, who launched her career on social media sites, such as My Space (remember them?). got into an online row with a Twitter user who blamed the NHS wait on immigration.

A Twitter user, - Twitter handle is @Trumpskins2016 - tweeted that Ms Allen did not care about 'preserving' English heritage because she is rich. 

Lily, who has 5.9 million followers on Twitter handle +Lily Allen, picked up the tweet and hit back: 'What do you mean when you speak of heritage, and also how you have come to the conclusion that money gets in the way of caring about it? '

The user, who must have been ecstatic to receive a reply, escalated the argument: 'You're rich so the impact of mass immigration doesn't effect you. People have been saying this to you over and over again.'

Lily defended her stance: 'I doubt it's fault of immigrants that you can't get someone to procreate with you. If that is the type of heritage you are referring to.' 

The user came back with: 'like to see how Lily would react to tons of immigrants being moved to the area she lives.'

Lily revealed that she lived in London near 'lots of immigrants' and had 'no problems'.

On her Twitter feed Lily says she lives near Greeks, Japanese and Scandinavians.

Specifically pointing to her daughter's hospital wait, the user then said: 'The UK is overcrowded. Liberals like yourself have allowed it to happen.'

Lily wrote: 'My daughter wasn't seen because the hospital, like most in the UK, are understaffed because of cuts, not because of immigrants.' 

Lily said that she has seen the decline in the NHS and added that the number of midwife visits has gone down.

The mother-of-three added: 'I've seen its decline. When I had my first baby, the midwife came every day.

'Only three years into a Tory government we had one visit. It was pretty bad. It's horrendous.' 

Lily has previously criticised the NHS four years ago after she claimed she had received lack of attention when she gave birth to Marnie, who was two at the time of the 2015 incident.

Writing on Twitter: 'After speaking to the Brent midwifery team at 7 this morning, I was told to stay in all day and someone would be over to weigh my baby and do a jaundice assessment.

'Waited all day, and nothing, not even a phone call.'

She told followers: 'I don't mean to moan and I know how over stretched the health service is. But I can't help but think about how mothers with less support, both financially and emotionally are meant to cope.' 

The NHS, which is barely out of the news, would probably not be able to function without migrant workers in every department. Nurses are still being recruited from the EU and countries like India and the Philippines.

In other news, the EU Brexit bill is proceeding after a stumbling block in the House of Lords and Prime Minister Theresa May could trigger the 'Article 50' official leaving process this month.

Three million EU nationals living in the UK are still unsure of their fate, prompting thousands of European migrants to apply for indefinite leave to remain and UK citizenship.

Most I speak to have no intention of leaving and plan to settle in the UK. Unlike many EU countries, the UK has jobs, unrestricted access to healthcare and welfare and jobs.

See also:

UK net migration drops but immigration from Romania and Bulgaria soars

Minimum £18,600 income for foreign spouses lawful "in principle", Supreme Court rules

Turn Your Passion into Profit

Free CD SET - UK BUY TO LET BOOM 

Minimum Salary for Tier 2 Work Permits to Rise to £30,000 as UK Immigration gets Tougher for Non-EU Migrants

If you think 2016 was a tough year for non-EU migrants, 2017 is about to get even harder, especially for anyone considering coming to the UK on a Tier 2 (General) working visa, such as a nurse.

The Immigration Act 2016 will see the Home Office bring in sweeping changes from April to the Tier 2 General work permit rules, including increasing the minimum salary requirement to £30,000, with no transitional arrangement for those sponsored between 24 November 2016 and April 2017. 

Nursing will remain on the Shortage Occupation List, as there are still thousands of nurse jobs in the UK. But for the first time employers will be required to carry out a ‘Resident Labour Market Test’ before assigning a nurse a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), even if the job is on the national shortage list.

The new minimum salary will automatically exclude many jobs and is above the UK average income, such as band 5 NHS nurses who start as around £26,000,

In addition, a new ‘Genuineness’ test will mean that Tier 2 applicants must satisfy the Home Office or entry clearance officer that they genuinely intend to undertake and are capable of undertaking the job for which the CoS is assigned.This could include attending an interview for entry clearance visas or further leave to remain.

Employers will be hit by a new tax or 'Immigration Skills Charge' of £1000 per year, per migrant to 'encourage' them to invest in training resident workers. There will be an exemption for PhD occupations, Tier 2 (ICT-Graduate Trainees) and Tier 4 students switching to Tier 2. The Home Office will also have more powers to search and seize documents from an employer, such as wage slips and time sheets, in order to build a case against them and an illegal worker.

Migrants will no longer have a 28-day ‘grace period’ in which to apply for further leave to remain, which means you could be branded a visa overstayer on your immigration record.

UK settlement rules are being tightened from April 2016, after which some Tier 2 visa holders will have to be earning a minimum of £35,000 per annum in order to apply for permanent residency or indefinite leave to remain. If you do not meet the salary requirement, you will not be able to stay in the UK for longer than six years and will not be able to reapply for another Tier 2 visa until you have completed a 12-month ‘cooling-off’ period outside the UK.

The Brexit, or leave EU vote, will do little to curb European immigration in the next few years as arguments rage over what type of exit Britain wants. This week the Supreme Court ruled that the Article 50 process, the mechanism required to trigger UK's exit from the European Union, must be put before MP's in Parliament. And with EU leaders insisting that free movement of labour is non-negotiable when it comes to thrashing out any trade deals, it looks like the only option for Home Secretary Amber Rudd to reduce immigration to the UK is to continue restricting non-EU migrants.

Across the pond in America today, Donald Trump has announced a halt on the U.S. refugee immigration programme for a temporary period. In his inauguration speech Trump spoke of 'America first' and wants to boost employment for resident workers. However, America still has a shortage of around one million nurses and the IT sector in the U.S and UK needs to attract the brightest and best for their growing digital economy.

The Immigration Act will have a number of consequences for Tier 2 employers and migrant workers. I will be giving you further guidance on the settlement (ILR) changes, as well as other changes, such as Tier 4 student visa switching rules, in future articles.

See also:

Uber offering free English courses to migrant worker drivers

Immigration Act 2016 - main highlights in a nutshell

Special Report

Buy Property With None Of Your Own Money....

Mark Homer explains the strategies that have helped thousands of people buy property with none of their own money.

You can obtain the report free, by clicking here...

Half a million EU migrants may be forced to leave UK post Brexit think tank claims

Half a million migrants from the EU, could be forced to leave Britain following the Brexit completion process, according to Laura Hughes, Political Correspondent for The Telegraph.

In a study by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) it was revealed that 590,000 EU nationals living in the UK may not meet strict residency requirements in order to automatically qualify for the indefinite leave to remain, assuming Article 50 is triggered next year and Britain leaves the EU by 2019.

There are over 3.5 million EU citizens currently living in the UK – three times the population of Birmingham, Britain’s second largest City and half of London’s population – but more than 80% should retain the right to remain in the UK having resided here for five. 

There are unconfirmed reports of a leap in applications for British Citizenship following the Brexit vote in June, as nervous EU migrants rush to secure their stay in the UK.

Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure to deliver the Brexit will of 17 million voters, and many on the right of the party want EU citizens lose their free movement rights to live in the UK. Mrs May has previously reassured 800,000 Poles living in the UK that she “wants and expects” them to remain in the country after Brexit.

According to SMF figures, 3.55 million EU citizens are resident in the UK, with 1,660,000 coming from the so-called EU14, those countries that were part of the EU before 2004. The remaining 1.5 million come from the eight Eastern European nations that joined 12 years ago.

Many Bulgarians, Romanians and Croatians, who joined after 2007, could miss the cut, having already been subjected to seven year restrictions on working in the UK after becoming EU citizens. Croatia is the newest member of the EU, but its citizens face an uphill struggle to exercise free movement of labour rights in many EU partner countries, including the UK. See Update for Croatians who want to work or study in the UK. 

More clarity will come once the negotiations begin with these countries and the EU as a whole.

Despite the fact that the UK hardly ever features in the top 10 lists of best places to live, everybody seems to want to live here! Half a million EU citizens are not going to leave the UK, unless they have better prospects and living conditions in their own country, even if they do not qualify for a UK passport.

There are an estimated million migrants living in the UK illegally who are not budging despite the best efforts of the Home Office to find and deport them, so the idea that the government is going to have the will to force 500,000 EU citizens to leave is pie in the sky.

Much of the UK's vital services, such as the NHS, could not operate without immigrant workers, although anti-immigration organisations like Migration Watch would argue that we would not need so many nurses and doctors if the migrant population fell.

Millions of UK citizens live in other EU countries, such as France and Spain, most of whom are retired, own their own properties and not dependent on local jobs. 

It is extremely unlikely that even the most arrogant French politician would want to expel hundreds of thousands of Brits, who contribute to their flagging economy and help prop up the French housing market.

Conflicting reports and predictions from so-called experts are emerging about the effects of Brexit on the UK economy. In the meantime, life goes on and the falling pound has attracted more UK visitors and investors.

The Bank of England voted to cut base interest rates from .5 to .25% today, and pump more money into the economy by quantitative easing - printing money to you and me!

If you are still stuck or unable to migrate, have you considered working from home or setting up a home-based business? Anyone can now set up a home based Internet business working from home or selling goods online. Companies like Amazon, eBay and Upwork offer everyone an opportunity to earn a living and even make a fortune working from home and living the laptop lifestyle.

It has never been as easy as it is right now to set up an online business. I work from home. In the past, you needed a lots of technical knowledge and skills to set up websites and marketing ability to work online. Now there are companies which do it all for you.

The internet has opened up a whole new world of learning, working, socialising and doing business. We no longer need to go back to school or university to learn new skills. We can work from home, start a business or find a new life partner all from the comfort of our home.

At the click of a mouse, you can now find everything from a short instructional video to a full degree course online. If you would like more information on a free course on how to survive and thrive in the digital economy revolution and discover the truth about how to make money online, click here.