We have launched an appeal to raise funds to assist the most vulnerable clients with the costs of their travel, paying for new ID documents, or even taking a passport photo. There are only few hardship funds available in Scotland and our clients are often not eligible to apply for either of them and rely on private discretionary donations.
The Citizens’ Rights Project is expanding its services for European citizens by providing a multilingual rights service, in Spanish and Polish, for EU citizens in Edinburgh during the pandemic.
If you are an EU/EEA/Swiss national, or their family member, living in the UK and have concerns about how the rules on criminality issues affect you, we advise to read this article, seek professional help and apply as soon as possible for pre-settled or settled status.
My name is Helen. I am a linguist, and in my leisure time, I volunteer as an OISC registered EUSS advisor for the Citizens’ Rights Project. I support fellow EU citizens who live in the Central Belt and Trossachs to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
I am aware, from discussions on the internet and questions at meetings, that some EU citizens have wondered whether they could travel to the UK before the end of 2020 and stay in the UK temporarily, perhaps for a very short period, with the idea of acquiring status under the Settlement Scheme as a type of ‘insurance policy’. The intention is not to live in the UK at that stage, but to be able to use that status to secure a right to reside in the UK at some future date if they wished or needed to do so.
The Citizens Rights Project has organised a further free webinar about the EU Settlement Scheme aimed at professionals working with vulnerable EU citizens in local authorities and third sector organisations, in collaboration with their partner Drummond Miller LLP.
At the end of August, the Home Office has published new quarterly statistics of the EU Settlement Scheme. We had a closer look at these statistics wondering what nationalities have submitted the most EUSS applications in Scotland and which local authorities have the largest number of applications. Then, we looked at the top 10 of these local authorities and checked which nationalities submitted the most applications in each of them.
The pandemic has made it difficult for some EU nationals to fulfil the requirements of the EU Settlement Scheme. Some cannot obtain the documents they need or may fall foul of the continuous residency rules. Mark Lazarowicz (Terra Firma Chambers) and Dorota Peszkowska (Feniks) warn they are at risk of losing their right to stay in the UK and claim benefits, and suggest how the Home Office could alter its guidance.
With less than six months remaining in the EU Exit Transition period, EU Citizens in Scotland are to get increased support from the Scottish Government funded Citizens Rights Project. Part of the government’s Stay in Scotland package, this funding will support the project’s continuing work on two programmes:
Become part of our family of volunteers. Citizens Rights Project is focused on providing information about the EU Settlement Scheme, which involves the application process for the settled or pre-settled status for Eu/EEA/Swiss nationals, and their family members, living in the UK.
