UK ministers are preparing to begin removing post-Brexit residency rights from some EU citizens who are no longer regarded as living “continuously” in Britain.
The move is lawful under the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement, which set out the terms for EU citizens’ rights in the UK after Brexit. But the decision to use travel data as part of the assessment of whether someone has been absent for too long has raised concerns.
Those concerns have been sharpened by the HMRC fiasco, in which almost 20,000 parents were stripped of child benefits because of inaccurate Home Office border data. Critics say that episode underlines the risks of relying on government data systems to determine people’s rights and entitlements.
The new initiative is expected to focus on whether EU citizens can be shown to have maintained continuous residence in the UK. Under the current framework, that status matters for determining whether they retain certain post-Brexit protections.
The issue is sensitive because it affects people who have built their lives in Britain since the UK left the EU. While the policy is grounded in the withdrawal agreement, the use of travel records to identify longer absences is likely to draw scrutiny from campaigners and affected residents.
The Home Office has faced criticism before over the quality and use of border and immigration data, and this latest plan is likely to revive questions about accuracy, fairness and the practical consequences of automated or data-led decision-making.
As the government moves ahead, the central concern remains whether travel information can be used reliably to judge if a person has been continuously resident, and whether those decisions can be made without repeating mistakes seen in the HMRC case.
