Church welcomes scrapping of registration fee for EU citizens living in UK

The Church has welcomed the government’s decision to scrap the £65 registration fee for European Union citizens applying for post-Brexit “settled status” in the United Kingdom, writes Liz Dodd.

Under original proposals up to 3.3 million EU citizens living in the UK would have had to pay to continue to live and work in the country. On Monday the prime minister, Theresa May, announced the scrapping of the fee.

The bishop for migrants, Paul McAleenan, welcomed the news. He said that the application fee had been unjust, explaining: “I am pleased that the government has abandoned plans to charge EU citizens for securing their existing rights. As I conveyed to the immigration minister earlier this year, such charges would not only be unjust, but would also create an unnecessary barrier for many people accessing the settlement scheme. The Church stands in solidarity with all EU citizens who have made their home here and we will continue to engage with the government.”

However migrants’ rights campaigner Barbara Kentish of Westminster Justice and Peace warned that the timescale for registration was still too short at two years after the Brexit deadline.

Despite calling the original EU settlement scheme “unjust and divisive”, the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has said it will promote registration in its parishes and schools.