Expulsion of a Spanish national from the UK revives tensions over Brexit | Spain

The expulsion of a Spanish national from the United Kingdom on 26 December, as she attempted to return to her country of residence after a short family visit to Malaga, has once again highlighted the legal insecurity experienced by many citizens of the community in the British territory. In the post-Brexit era. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez demanded an explanation from London, “for the expulsion of a Spanish national, despite…

The expulsion of a Spanish national from the United Kingdom on 26 December, as she attempted to return to her country of residence after a short family visit to Malaga, has once again highlighted the legal insecurity experienced by many citizens of the community in the British territory. In the post-Brexit era. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez demanded an explanation from London “for expelling a Spanish national, even though she had the necessary documents to enter the country in which she resides with her husband.”

Albaris is confident that it was a “one-off” and did not want to add fuel to the fire, but what happened revived the lasting tension left by the divorce between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Foreign sources indicated that the Spanish Embassy in London is taking steps with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior (the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Interior) to clarify the status of the Spanish citizen.

Maria (a fictitious name, because the Spanish woman did not want to reveal her real identity) was detained at London's Luton Airport, where she spent the night, before being returned to Spain by British authorities. She lives in Bedfordshire (north London) with her husband and in-laws. He had traveled to Malaga for a short family visit. “I came home because my sister had just given birth to a baby girl. Four days later, at Luton Airport, I was put in a holding room, my phone was confiscated and I was told to wait. “I spent the whole night there until they put me on a plane back.” He told Malaga newspaper guardian.

Maria's case is strange, but not unique. “It is about the flexibility shown by the British government to those people who tried to apply for a residence permit, after the deadline -.”European Union settlement plan. In English – which was launched before Brexit came into force, so that all Community citizens who were residing in the UK at the time (and can prove this) would maintain their rights to reside, work and access public services such as health or social assistance. . 376,370 Spaniards have already obtained a Settlement Permit or Pre-Settlement Permit (the former is obtained five years after the start of the programme, or if the applicant has already been living in British territory for more than five years when claimed). In total, 5.7 million citizens benefited from this scheme.

The deadline for applying for a permit ended on June 30, 2021, but London continues to accept applications that “provide reasonable grounds,” and responds to all of them. The problem with these cases is that their legal status suffers from some ambiguity and uncertainty. The expelled Spaniard had lived in the United Kingdom between 2014 and 2018, and then traveled to South Africa to accompany her husband, who was about to finish his doctorate. They were not able to return to British territory until after the epidemic ended. Once she returned, Maria applied for her residence permit. She did not have enough time, but she was convinced she could prove that her time in South Africa was not long enough to invalidate her residency rights under the Withdrawal Agreement signed between London and Brussels.

He filed the papers in 2023, as he prepares to make a career change, give up design and start working with animals. In June, he received the answer: his application was rejected, on the grounds that he could not provide the necessary evidence to prove his time on British soil. I requested a review of the case and obtained a treatment certificate —CoA, Certificate of Application—. This was the document that allowed her to breathe, because it preserved her right to stay, work, study, or receive social benefits, while the file was resolved once and for all. This was the document she presented at the airport, upon her return to London, confident that her situation was fine.

“They told me I was wasting my time, and that it wasn't true that I could work [en el Reino Unido]The Spanish woman explains.

The British Home Office does not comment on individual cases, but its spokesman explained: “Border Force’s first priority is to keep our borders secure, and we will never compromise in this regard.”

“Officers may detain any arriving passenger for further screening if they are not satisfied in the first instance that they meet the entry requirements. “This decision is made based on the information provided by the passenger, and not on their nationality,” the spokesperson added.

However, the British authorities do not consider the entry visa to be an entry visa, and reserve the right to ask the person, during border control, to prove that they were resident in the UK before 31 December 2020, the day before Brexit. into force. It is a way to avoid potential fraud. Maria remains in Malaga waiting for her situation to be resolved.