LONDON. Accept the decision of your supreme court Britanniawho called the methods of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to provide illegal residence permit for European citizens after Brexit, the London government is obliged. The Supreme Court ruled illegal the decision of the Home Office to revoke the residence permit in the UK from European citizens who did not reapply for permanent residence in the country. The Interior Ministry initially insisted that it would appeal the decision of the highest judiciary, but ultimately backed down, according to statements by a ministry spokesman in Politico Magazine.

“After careful consideration of the issue, we informed the court that we did not wish to appeal this decision. We are working on the speedy implementation of the decision and will inform the public about any developments,” said the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The High Court ruled that the two-stage residency scheme was illegal. After Brexit, EU citizens who lived in the UK for less than five years were required to apply for “preliminary settlement” and repeat the process of applying for “settlement” after five years of permanent residence in the country. The court ruled that those who did not file a second application on time or did not file at all risk being declared illegal on British soil, even though their stay in Britain is guaranteed by the EU withdrawal agreement.

London’s immigration policy has been a source of friction with the European Commission, which last year accused the UK of discriminating against European citizens and unduly mistreating EU citizens. The case concerns the 2.2 million European citizens permanently residing in Britain who were granted pre-settlement status at the time of their appeal to the high court in December 2021.

The Supreme Court declared illegal the restrictive measures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to issue a permanent residence permit.

“When we submitted our request to the High Court, our goal was to clarify the legal status of the 2.2 million pre-settled European citizens in the UK. Declaring the existing system illegal brought clarity. We have already contacted the Home Office about the next steps,” said Rhys Davies, head of the IMA independent monitoring organization. “The Brexit agreement said that European citizens could lose their right to permanent residence in the UK for very specific reasons, but not because they did not apply for permanent residence again,” Ms Davies explains.

Last February, the Commission sharply criticized then British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for violating the terms of the Brexit deal with European citizens in the UK. According to the Commission, London divided Europeans in the UK into two categories based on their position at work and their economic performance in their first five years in the country.