Brandon Lewis, immigration minister, told MPs that post Brexit, the processing time for every application will come down to weeks, instead of months in the current system. He told the Commons home affairs select committee that an extra 1,200 UK visas and immigration staff were being recruited to process an expected 3.5 m applications from EU nationals over two and a half years. He also confirmed that those who have been refused “settled status” and classed as non-EU nationals in Britain illegally could have their bank accounts frozen and face deportation before the hearing of any appeal in British courts.


As easy to apply and process as a driving license

Lewis said that EU “settled status” applicants, subject to the outcome of the negotiations, would have to verify their identity, pass a criminality check and establish five years’ residence in the UK. The Home Office would use existing HMRC tax/DWP national insurance databases to verify applications. Applicants would not have to submit their passports to prove residence. He insisted the Home Office was adopting a "different cultural approach" to dealing with applications for settled status, with a presumption that applicants were likely to be allowed to stay.Cases should be dealt wicath within a couple of weeks - and he hoped the new process would be as simple to use as applying for a driving licence via the DVLA.

Labour’s MP Yvette Cooper expresses her doubts

Yvette Cooper warned that the Home Office's record of mistakes in immigration cases meant many would take little reassurance from his words. Ms Cooper, chair of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, pointed to a recent case when 106 EU nationals were wrongly sent letters ordering them to leave the country."MPs don't currently have the greatest of confidence in the casework capacity of the Home Office and the way it makes decisions," she said.

Lewis defends his case

Lewis said the Home Office swiftly accepted a mistake was made with the letters, and said all those affected were contacted within 24 hours to reassure them they had been sent in error. "We can say to people that they can have confidence in the system we are developing for next year, not just because of the resources we are putting into it, but because it is a different approach in terms of the presumption that we are granting status," he told the committee.