Concerns raised over use of travel data in determining whether people are ‘continuously’ in UK, after HMRC fiasco
Ministers are to start removing post-Brexit residency rights from EU citizens who are no longer “continuously” living in the UK.
The initiative is legal under the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement but the decision to use travel data to partially determine absences has raised concerns following the HMRC fiasco that saw almost 20,000 parents stripped of child benefits because of inaccurate Home Office border data.
The Home Office said the crackdown was aimed at those who had received “pre-settled status” to remain in the UK before Brexit, a status that applied to anyone who had been in the UK for less than five years.
Officials will start with those believed to have left the country more than five years ago and there will be safeguards including consideration of reasons for prolonged absences.
