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LS Legal News Bulletin

How criminal convictions affect settled status for EU citizens

How criminal convictions affect settled status for EU citizens

Friday 1st March 2019

The EU Settlement Scheme has been set up by the UK government for European residents to apply for "settled status" after Brexit. It is considered necessary because most citizens of European Union countries will lose their existing legal status in this country after it leaves the EU. EU citizens who do not apply for this new status will, eventually, become unlawfully resident.
For most people, it is likely that the application will be accepted and either settled or pre-settled status granted without much further ado.
But the Settlement Scheme is not a registration system. It is an application. Applications can be refused.
All applications for settled status will be checked against criminal record databases, presumably for both the UK and for other EU countries. This is likely to reveal a substantial number of recent and historic offences among the cohort of people applying.
In short, EU citizens may face deportation action for historic offences if they have:
● Received any sentence of imprisonment at all within the last five years;
● At any time (no matter how historic) received a sentence of 12 months or more for a single offence;
● For those resident for less than five years, if they in the last three years received three or more convictions (including non-custodial sentences);
● Previous involvement in serious deception such as sham marriage or assisting unlawful immigration.
It can be assumed that some EU citizens and family members with criminal records will apply for settled status. The Home Office has stated that it will apply existing EU law on deportation to any previous criminal convictions. Future convictions after Brexit will be subject to the current UK thresholds for deportation.
EU law sets out principles to be applied in deportation cases, not hard and clear criteria.
EU law on deportation is complex and is intended to balance the right of free movement (citizens will be dissuaded from moving if they can easily be deported for minor offending) with the interests of national governments and populations.
In short, the Home Office commitment to apply EU law standards when considering deportation for past criminal behaviour is somewhat hollow.