If every EU citizen in the UK wants to stay, it will take the Home Office 140 YEARS to process them all
Report warns of chaos if numbers aren't seriously increased
THE Home Office will be swamped by Europeans living in Britain if they are given the green light to stay post-Brexit, a report reveals today.
Oxford University's Migration Observatory claim if all the 3million EU citizens living here applied for permanent residency at the same time it would take a whopping 140 years to process the applications at recent rates.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? The Status of EU Citizens Already Living in the UK finds that the process of protecting the long-term status of EU migrants already in the UK will be a "formidable task."
Director of the Migration Observatory Madeleine Sumption said: “Depending on how long Brexit negotiations take, the Government may need to register EU citizens already living here quite quickly.
Sumption added: "Given the sheer number of EU citizens who would need to register and the potential complexity of the process, this will be a formidable task.” The report also notes a "substantial minority" of EU citizens could be ineligible for claiming citizenship - despite having lived in the country for several years.
It also adds there is confusion around the current permanent residence rules for students and people who are self-sufficient, like retirees.