Loophole means EU students could struggle to keep UK residency after studies
International students from the European Union (EU) are at risk of a Home Office loophole disallowing them permanent residence.
Generally, European students can apply for permanent residence in the UK after living here legally for 5 years. However, a loophole has been identified allowing the Home Office to challenge these applications.
The loophole reportedly relies on EU students having evidence of obtaining sickness insurance during their 5 years before applying for residency.
The confusion surrounds the validity of European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) which are enough as insurance during a student’s stay in the UK. They lose their validity if a stay in the UK is no longer temporary and is to become permanent, a fact the Home Office used to ground their challenge.
The loophole permits the Home Office to deny permanent residence, even with the requisite 5 years spent here.
Our advice for students in this situation is to seek advice either from their International Office at their University or from a specialist immigration solicitor as soon as they can.
Emma Brooksbank, Head of Immigration at Simpson Millar
Emma Brooksbank, Head of Immigration at Simpson Millar, explains: “Earlier this month I advised a young woman who spent three years as an undergraduate and a further two year studying for Master’s degree. On the face of it, that equates to the requisite five years’ lawful residence history in the UK for the Home Office to grant her permanent residence.
“But the Home Office has challenged her application because she didn’t have the correct insurance in place. I suspect there are tens of thousands of people just like her making the same mistake right now.”
She added: “Our advice for students in this situation is to seek advice either from their International Office at their University or from a specialist immigration solicitor as soon as they can.”
The Home Office is now placing unnecessary hoops for students like me to jump through in order to continue living in this country. We were told that nothing would happen to us, but we keep seeing that this is not the case.
Ana Clara Paniago, English Literature first-year
There are around 125,000 EU students studying in the UK, with Warwick ranking 10th in the universities that recruit the most international students.
Between 2014-15, 7,425 international students were at Warwick, with 1,900 of those being EU students, according to the UK Council for International Student Affairs.
Ana Clara Paniago, a first-year EU student at Warwick, stated: “This is really disheartening news, especially considering that I am an EU national studying English Literature in the UK.
“The Home Office is now placing unnecessary hoops for students like me to jump through in order to continue living in this country. We were told that nothing would happen to us, but we keep seeing that this is not the case.”
The University, after consulting an immigration specialist, commented: “They say that this could indeed be an issue in those very specific circumstances but it is not directly Brexit related. Students can of course get advice on these issues from Warwick’s Global Engagement Office.”
Sophie Worrall, the EU International Officer for Warwick Students’ Union has been approached for comment.
Comments (1)
This isn’t a loophole. This is an explicit requirement of exercising Treaty Rights within the United Kingdom. Read the actual Treaty. It’s not hidden, it’s explicit. Those who registered before 2011 are often released from this requirement anyway. This is ridiculous hyperbole.
If anything, the University/SU are at fault for not identifying this requirement to students. As are students themselves for not investigating the legal requirements necessary to study in another country.