A Kafkaesque experience
17. 5. 2021
čas čtení
3 minuty
UK government is warning British citizens of dual nationality, who have the right of abode in the UK, that they must register for the EU settlement scheme to be allowed to stay in Britain
Dr. Jan Čulík, editor-in-chief of this website and Senior Lecturer at
the University of Glasgow in Scotland, has just received an anonymous UK
government
communication from
www.gov.uk/eusettlementscheme, by post.
The letter, dated 11th May, 2021, says that they know Jan Čulík is an "an EU citizen" and
so he "needs to register for the EU settlement scheme by 30th June,
2021".
The letter is signed "Office manager". There is no return
address.
The problem is that while Jan Čulík is indeed a holder of an EU (Czech)
passport, he is ALSO a British citizen and has been a British passport
holder for 36 years. He received his UK Certificate of
Naturalisation in 1985. His UK passport says:
Right of Abode
This
passport is proof that the holder has the right of abode in the UK if
the holder's nationality is shown as British citizen or the passport has
an observation that the holder has the right of abode in the UK.
The passport does say that Jan Čulík is a British citizen.
Jan Čulík has just learned from the Brexit correspondent of a leading UK daily newspaper that a number of EU citizens resident in the UK have received such letters.
The letter does say on page 2 that "if you are a British national, you do not need to apply for a status and can ignore this letter". Well, the correct designation is "British citizen", and - if Jan Čulík does not need to apply, why send him the letter at all?
Jan Čulík has been trying to contact whoever has sent him this
letter. The letter lists a
helpline, which, however, is inaccessible - when you phone the number, you
get an automated message saying that the number is so overwhelmed
with queries that they can no longer put you into a queue. Then the line cuts off.
He has also tried to contact whoever sent him this letter by accessing the website
www.gov.uk/eusettlementscheme.
It is also impossible to contact them there because they only allow the user
to ask about a set of pre-determined questions which are irrelevant
to this case. There is no way of contacting them to alert them to errors.
Jan Čulík has written to his MP in the House of Commons to ask the UK authorities to confirm that this is an error. The MPs office has confirmed that they have requested this and will let him know what happens.
Considering what incredible mess the UK government has made
of the Windrush scandal (when people from the West Indies were invited by the UK government in the 1950s to come to the UK, and then recently some of them were, after many decades of life in the UK deported) and considering the fact
that UK immigration are now detaining and deporting EU citizens arriving in the UK, only because they come for a job interview, which they are fully entitled legally to do,
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/13/eu-citizens-arriving-in-uk-being-locked-up-and-expelled
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/14/hostile-uk-border-regime-traumatises-visitors-from-eu
this seems to be a worrying development.
8896
Diskuse