Immigration lawyers invited to Imperial to guide European staff post-Brexit

If you only hold a European passport, you might want to consider applying for permanent residence in the UK, if not for British citizenship. Or at least that is what immigration lawyers invited to Imperial are advising, in a series of presentations for College’s European staff, to help them navigate the post-Brexit landscape.

The presentations, which started at the end of July and ran all the way through September, were organised by Imperial’s HR team in collaboration with lawyers from the law firm Farrer & Co.

The first out of ten scheduled presentations saw anxious staff members rapidly firing their questions at leading immigration lawyer, Sharmilla Mehta. But Mehta reassured staff that there will be more bespoke advice and support from College at a later date.

Mehta, according to Farrer & Co, “is an expert in UK Immigration and Nationality law, having practised in the area for over 20 years. In that time, she has helped senior executives, wealthy individuals, investment banks and multinational companies successfully move to the UK” She covered what little guidelines the Home Office had released so far (hint: not much) and took the audience members through the procedure of applying for permanent residence and British citizenship, along with the eligibility requirements, necessary documents and general advice.

Indications are that it will take at least two years for the UK to negotiate an exit strategy with the EU

For example, permanent residency and citizenship are only awarded to applicants who have been in the UK for at least five years, but that excludes anyone who has been away for over six months at a time, 450 days in total over the five year period, or 90 days in the last year

At the same time, if applicants have at any point not been in full employment during that five year period, they need to have been covered by comprehensive health insurance i.e. insurance that provides both inpatient and outpatient treatment in full, where outpatient treatment is defined as any treatment where a stay in hospital is not required such as tests, scans or consultations.

This means that if you’ve been a student for any point in the past five years and hadn’t invested in a comprehensive health insurance plan, you wouldn’t be eligible for permanent residency or British citizenship.

Of course, just because you can’t get permanent residence, doesn’t mean your life in the UK is over. An Imperial College spokesperson said, “Indications are that it will take at least two years for the UK to negotiate an exit strategy with the EU.” However, for many European workers, the sense of security that permanent residence or British citizenship can bring is priceless. Many have been here for over a decade – bought property, started families – and being forced to pack up their lives and leave is a terrifying thought, no matter how unlikely.

So, preparing for a worst-case scenario is just a way of tackling this lack of security. Although the rights of employees from the EU remain as at present and there are currently no changes to the fee status of EU students or the funding of existing EU research projects, College has prepared a legal and financial support package for European Economic Area (EEA) staff and their dependants to help staff understand their options.