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Britain will outline its plans on Thursday for new immigration rules for European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom after Brexit as it calls on the bloc to give more details about its own proposals for British nationals.
The Home Office (interior ministry) said it would announce in parliament more details of the UK’s settlement scheme, due to be phased in later this year, which will allow EU citizens and their families living in Britain a new UK immigration status.
“Publishing details of how we will administer our settled status scheme shows we are honouring the commitments made towards EU citizens living in the UK,” Home Secretary Sajid Javid said in a statement.
“But I am concerned that I have not seen any similar plans on how EU member states are going to support British nationals in their countries. This is not good enough and I hope both the European Parliament and Commission will exert more pressure for them to do this as soon as possible.”
Thursday’s publication will provide details on how the new British scheme will operate, who will be eligible, how many people can apply and what it will cost, the Home Office said.
The question of what rules will govern the status of citizens from the other 27 EU states already living in the UK after Britain leaves the bloc in March next year has been one of the most contentious issues in divorce talks between London and Brussels.
As part of a deal struck earlier this year to ensure a 21-month transition period after the UK leaves, Britain said it would offer residence rights to EU citizens who arrived after Brexit but before 2021, reports Reuters.
The Home Office said Javid had met the European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt this week and he had acknowledged that the other EU states had not done enough to set out the details for Britons living across the bloc.