Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what process her Department plans to use to identify all existing lawful EU residents and their families eligible for the period of blanket residence permission, outlined in paragraph 24 of her Department's policy paper, Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, published on 26 June 2017; and what the procedure will be for applications for such permission.

The Government’s policy paper (Cm 9464) is clear that the Home Office will provide a period of blanket residence permission, to start immediately on the UK’s exit from the EU.

This will be a generic “umbrella” of temporary leave applying to all existing lawful EU residents (and their families), to give them a grace period between the moment that free movement ends and the time they obtain their residence document – allowing them to remain lawfully in the UK, and continue to undertake their lawful business during that interim period. Such leave, known as ‘deemed leave’ in UK law, under the Immigration Act 1971 does not require an application.