The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

Brexit: 1m EU citizens in Britain ‘could be at
risk of deportation’
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In order to get citizenship, she first had to get a “permanent residency” document, which involves an
85-page application form.
Hawkins said the Home Office had overlooked vital information in her submission – she was unable
to supply an original of her Dutch passport because her father had recently died and she needed her
passport to continue to travel to the Netherlands to support her mother.
However, the department not only rejected her application but sent her a letter which took no account
of her right to be in the country irrespective of their decision. “As you appear to have no alternative
basis of stay in the United Kingdom you should now make arrangements to leave,” the letter said.
When she phoned the Home Office to discuss the decision communicated to her in October, four
months after her application, she was told her case could not be discussed on the phone or by email.
Hawkins said her treatment by the Home Office was as absurd as a “Monty Python” sketch.
In a written complaint, Hawkins said the worst aspect about the process was the inability to contact
anyone. She wrote: “I do not believe there is any other business, organisation or even legal process in
the world that would treat its customers/clients/applicants in this manner.”
The software engineer, from Surrey, said she never once thought she would be deported but said her
experience highlights the absurdity of the Home Office permanent residency process.
She was told that under the rules she could not talk to anyone about her case and after making her
written complaint she received a letter saying her complaint did not qualify as a complaint under
Home Office guidelines.
A European Union passport. Photograph: Aflo/Rex/Shutterstock
She also protested that while the Home Office would not discuss her case with her personally, it was
willing to respond to her MP Dominic Raab, who intervened on her behalf.