One in four citizens did not receive a Certificate of Application to the EU Settlement Scheme immediately after applying, according to an annual survey conducted by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA).

The IMA’s second annual survey was completed by over 1,100 EU, EEA EFTA citizens, their family members, and eligible third country nationals. It comes as the IMA has launched an inquiry to investigate delays with the issuance of the certificates, which can be used to evidence rights, for example the right to work, rent or access benefits, while an application is being considered.

The survey also found that:

• 1 in 5 respondents have concerns about the future stability and security of their rights;
• 1 in 3 respondents are not confident that they will be able to enjoy their citizens’ rights; and
• 1 in 3 who lacked confidence in their rights being upheld expressed distrust towards UK public authorities.

The IMA has recommended that all UK public bodies should continue to strengthen trust with EU, EEA EFTA citizens, their family members, and eligible third country nationals. Governments in the UK and Gibraltar must also continue to promote rights in legislation, policy, and practice across all demographics, with particular concern for potentially vulnerable and marginalised citizens.

Positively, the majority of respondents to the survey felt they had not been discriminated against by a public authority on the basis of their nationality and 4 out of 5 respondents who hold pre-settled status know that they have to apply for settled status after five years.

Awareness of the IMA has more than doubled, from 13% recorded in the first annual survey last year to 28% this year. While 78% of respondents said they would complain to the IMA, 1 in 3 who stated that they would not complain reported a lack confidence that the IMA would take action.

Pam Everett, IMA Director of Operational Delivery said:

“The results of this year’s survey serve as a reminder for all public bodies to continue promoting and protecting the rights of EU citizens who arrived before 31 December 2020 and who have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme.

“We are continuing to investigate the potential impact associated with issues surrounding the scheme itself and would encourage those experiencing issues with Certificates of Application to respond to our request for information via the inquiry.

“As an organisation we recognise that we must continue to improve awareness of our organisation in order to build citizens’ confidence and trust so that they are empowered to report complaints to us which enable us to investigate issues and take action where it is needed.”

Read the report about the IMA’s second annual survey in full.

Go straight to the survey for the inquiry to share your experiences.

The survey will establish how many respondents with Pre-Settled Status are aware they have to upgrade to Settled Status within five years of the grant of their original Pre-Settled Status. The IMA recently announced judicial review proceedings issued against the Home Office to challenge their position that people who fail to apply for Settled Status before the expiry of their Pre-Settled Status automatically lose their rights.

The survey will also confirm how many respondents received their Certificate of Application immediately after applying to the EUSS and ask them to share experiences of any discrimination they have faced on the grounds of nationality.

The findings will provide a measure of the IMA’s progress since it became operational in December 2020 and inform its ongoing programme of work.

The IMA is particularly interested to hear from people from Poland, Bulgaria and Romania as the number of responses received in last year’s survey were not reflective of the size of these communities in the UK and Gibraltar.

The IMA is also keen to hear from vulnerable or harder to reach cohorts about their experiences. These include older individuals, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, homeless and rough sleepers. The IMA will work closely with advocacy organisations in order to promote the survey and ensure it reaches these audiences.

The survey will be open for six weeks and the IMA will publish a report with the findings following its closure.

Citizens who feel their rights are not being upheld are also encouraged to report a complaint to the IMA via its portal.

Pam Everett, IMA Director of Operational Delivery said:

“Our annual survey, along with the complaints we receive enable us to hear about issues directly from citizens and we can then consider what action to take. This information helps the IMA to identify patterns and address the systemic issues affectinig a number of people.

“This year we have included some questions on a few specific issues in order to gather further intelligence and ensure any action we take is proportionate and upholds the rights of EU and EEA EFTA citizens under the Withdrawal and Separation Agreements.”

Notes:

• *Family members of EU or EEA EFTA citizens may include eligible third country nationals, for example, non-EU or EEA EFTA nationals that are married to an EU or EEA EFTA citizen or are divorced or widowed.
• Access the survey here.

The IMA was established to ensure the rights of EU and EEA EFTA citizens living in the UK and Gibraltar are upheld by public bodies. It is important that these citizens apply to the EUSS before 30 June 2021 for their rights to remain protected.

However, the IMA has identified a number of issues associated with the scheme via complaints received and wider intelligence including;

• the application process;
• length of time taken to process applications;
• correcting details after making applications;
• contacting the relevant departments or complaining about the process; and
• access to using the digital route.

The IMA is in regular dialogue with the Home Office about these issues and has now launched its first call for evidence in order to gain a broader understanding of the EUSS through the ‘lived experiences’ of citizens who are familiar with the application process.

As part of the call for evidence, the IMA is keen to hear not only from citizens who have or are in the process of making an application, but also from anyone with knowledge and experience of the EUSS including support agencies or individuals who have provided assistance with applications.

Citizens can share their experiences via an online survey which will close on 18 June 2021.
The IMA has the power to conduct an inquiry. The call for evidence provides an opportunity for hearing first-hand from citizens about their experiences and could inform the terms of a future inquiry.

Chief Executive of the IMA, Dr Kathryn Chamberlain said:

“There have been more than five million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme so far, but as we count down to the 30 June deadline it is crucial all applications are processed without error or delay in order for people’s rights to be upheld.

“Our request for information from citizens will provide us with a deeper understanding of the issues which have already been raised with us and will help us consider what next steps we might want to take.

“In the meantime, we are urging citizens to complete their applications to the scheme as soon as possible. We will also continue to engage regularly with the Home Office to encourage them to take action where it is needed.”

Citizens who believe their rights are not being upheld under the Withdrawal and Separation Agreements can submit a complaint to the IMA via its complaints portal.

EU and EEA EFTA citizens living in the UK and Gibraltar have until 30 June 2021 to apply to the Home Office to remain in the country under the EUSS. If they do not secure settled or pre-settled status, they could be classed as living in the UK unlawfully.

The survey, which is the first of its kind to take place after Brexit saw almost 3,000 respondents from EU and EEA EFTA nations (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) take part.

While the majority of respondents felt that they were treated equally the survey identified a range of concerns including mixed awareness about their rights and lack of confidence in them.

The survey identified that:

• 1 in 4 respondents do not feel they are treated equally to UK citizens;
• 1 in 2 are not aware of their citizens’ rights; and
• 1 in 10 are considering leaving the UK after 30 June.

While a lack of confidence in their citizens’ rights being upheld revealed that:

• 30% of respondents are not confident their citizens’ rights will be upheld by public bodies;
• 1 in 2 are not confident in at least one of their rights;
• 1 in 25 already believe their rights have been breached: and
• 1 in 10 wouldn’t complain about a breach of their rights.

The reasons for the lack of confidence were cited as being a lack of trust in the government (31%); the impact and negativity associated with the Brexit process (11%); a hostile environment (9%) and fears over another Windrush-type scandal (7%). While 10% said the physical nature of their status under the EU Settlement Scheme was already leading to a discrimination of EU citizens.

The IMA’s findings were consistent across the diverse range of respondents with a lack of trust reported across all demographics.

Dr Kathryn Chamberlain, IMA Chief Executive said:

“We undertook our first survey because we were keen to understand the experience of EU citizens living in the UK and Gibraltar since Brexit. We were also particularly interested to understand awareness of the EU Settlement Scheme and whether citizens knew what they needed to do to continue to live, work and raise their families in the UK and Gibraltar. The results give us an important insight into how citizens are feeling since the UK left the EU.

“It’s clear that there are issues of trust for EU citizens after the grace period for applications to the Settlement Scheme ends on 30 June and there is a real need for public authorities of all types to take action to build this trust through their actions and by also recognising the role they play in promoting citizens’ rights in legislation, policy and practice. We will continue to engage, challenge and work with public bodies to make sure they understand these rights.

“As an organisation, we are also keen to do all we can to instil confidence in citizens that their voices will be heard. Our complaints portal is open for EU and EEA EFTA nationals to report a breach of their rights and we are currently recruiting for a panel of EU citizens to provide feedback on our work.

“Knowing how Brexit is impacting on the daily lives of citizens is really important to us and I would ask anyone who thinks they have experienced a breach of their rights to contact us so we can help to resolve the systemic issues which impact large numbers of the European community in the UK and Gibraltar.”

More information about the complaints portal can be found on the IMA’s website.

The full results of the survey report can be downloaded from the publications page.

The IMA monitors public bodies to make sure they are upholding the rights of citizens from the EU and EEA EFTA states (Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland). It can also receive complaints and has powers to launch inquiries and take legal action.

The survey, launched as the IMA marks its first month in operation, asks about life after Brexit including awareness of the EU Settlement Scheme and confidence that public bodies will uphold rights and ensure equal treatment. It also tests initial awareness of the IMA to help us ensure EU citizens can access our services. The IMA will work closely with advocate organisations including the3million as well as with the Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom in order to promote the survey and ensure it reaches as many EU nationals as possible.

Dr Kathryn Chamberlain, IMA Interim CEO said:

“I want to hear from as many people as possible. Their responses, along with the complaints we receive, help us to build a bigger picture of the issues facing EU citizens. This enables us to identify where we need to work with public bodies to ensure they are upholding rights.”

“This survey is part of a range of intelligence-gathering exercises we are carrying out to protect citizens’ rights.”

Maike Bohn, Co-founder of the3million, said:

“We are receiving increasing reports that EU citizens and their families are having difficulty acquiring and proving the rights they are entitled to.

“As problems are escalating we welcome the timely establishment of this independent body as agreed in the Withdrawal Agreement. The IMA was set up to guard our rights and to hold the government to account and we look forward to seeing the results of this survey.”

The survey launches on the 1 February. It takes around 5-10 minutes to complete and does not request any personally identifiable information.