Latest news with #EUSS
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
‘My daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia aged 11 – and the NHS tried to charge us £17k for her treatment'
A Latvian mother who was sent a £17,000 bill for her daughter's NHS cancer treatment is taking legal action against the government. The mother, listed as M in the legal challenge, said the bill 'was overwhelming and came completely out of the blue' and is taking legal action to argue that European nationals who apply late for settled status should be able to maintain their right to free healthcare in the UK. She and her daughter now have settled status in the UK under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and despite seeing some of the fees waived after challenging it with their NHS trust, are still facing costs of around £2,000. The mother came to the UK in 2014 and was joined by her young daughter in 2017. She successfully applied for status under EUSS in 2019 and then made an in-time application for her daughter, which was rejected in December 2021. At the time of her daughter's rejection, the mother had been locked out of her email account and therefore didn't realise the application had been refused. This only became apparent in early 2023 and she then made a second application, which was granted in June 2023. During that period her daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia in February 2021, and underwent treatment at the North West Anglia NHS Trust. The now 15-year-old daughter went into remission in July 2023, but nearly a year later, in May 2024, the family were sent an unexpected bill for £16,635.81. The charge was for the treatment received between the deadline to appeal her daughter's initial residency refusal, and the date the mother reapplied. Due to delays in updating the new digital status system for EU citizens, the daughter did not appear to have a refused application when she went to the NHS for treatment. During this period, when the system hadn't updated, some 141,000 settlement applications were refused. The mother explained her shock on finding out that her daughter wasn't entitled to healthcare, saying: 'Finding out about this debt has been very stressful for my daughter. She thinks it is her fault. She knows I cannot afford to repay this amount of money. 'I tried to ensure that my daughter had applied on time and did not realise she did not have status under the EUSS. She now has settled status because the Home Office allowed me to make a late application for her. 'It does not seem fair that the NHS trust is not taking into account these circumstances and is now asking me to pay for so much of her treatment. 'Realising that other families might be in the same position made me determined to take legal action, so that they don't have to go through this stress and suffering.' Niamh Grahame, lawyer at the Public Law Project, explained their claim, saying: 'People who make a successful late application to the EUSS are still charged for their treatment before the date on which they make the late application. 'We are arguing that this policy breaches the Withdrawal Agreement and unfairly treats people differently for making a late application where the government has accepted that they had a reasonable excuse for doing so. 'The intention behind the Withdrawal Agreement was that the rights of EU nationals and their family members who moved to the UK before Brexit should be continuously protected. If you meet the criteria for a successful application, it should not matter when you apply.'
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What changes are being made to the EU Settlement Scheme?
Campaigners have welcomed new changes to the EU Settlement Scheme that would make it easier for people to obtain settled status to live in the UK. The new system will see those with "pre-settled status" automatically granted settled status if eligible, rather than having to go through the application process all over again. It follows a High Court judgement that ruled it was unlawful to take away the rights of people with pre-settled status just because they hadn't made a second application before the expiry of their status. While some 1.7 million EU citizens with pre-settled status stand to benefit from this change, campaigners warn some of those with "complex life circumstances" will "fall through the net of this policy" and risk losing their right to live in the UK, or being "pushed into exploitation". Here, Yahoo News explains the changes and why campaign groups still have concerns. Settled status is an immigration status given to people under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) introduced in 2019 after Brexit. It allows citizens from the European Union, European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland who were living continuously in the UK for at least five years before 31 December 2020 to live and work in the UK permanently. Those who didn't meet these criteria could apply for pre-settled status, a temporary immigration status, granted for a period of five years, initially requiring people to then apply for settled status once eligible. The deadline for most people to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme was 30 June 2021, but the Home Office did make exceptions for those with "reasonable grounds" for a late application. The EU Settlement Scheme has provided 5.7 million EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members with the status they need to continue living and working in the UK since Brexit, according to the Home Office. In a bid to make things more straightforward, the Home Office is introducing a new process to automatically convert eligible pre-settled status holders to settled status. Pre-settled status holders approaching the expiry of their status will receive an email telling them they "may soon be considered" for an automated conversion. The Home Office says it expects to issue the first grants of settled status under this new process from late January, before expanding the process to benefit more people later this year. It says it will automatically check pre-settled status holder records against government-held records, for example, for evidence of criminal conduct and to ensure they have been living in the UK – the same checks used when people first applied for the EUSS. "We are also considering the appropriate next steps for cases where a pre-settled status holder no longer meets the conditions," the Home Office adds. Pre-settled status holders won't need to do anything and will be informed if they cannot be granted settled status, although people are still free to apply online themselves if they prefer. The changes follow a ruling by the High Court in 2022 that certain aspects of the EUSS were unlawful. Judge Mr Justice Lane concluded that the Home Office had wrongfully interpreted the withdrawal agreement between the UK and EU by allowing people with pre-settled status to lose their rights purely because they had failed to make a second application. The legal challenge was brought by the Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA) – the watchdog set up by the government to look after EU citizens' rights in Britain after its exit from the union. At the time, more than two-and-a-half million people faced having their residency rights taken away for failing to make a second application. The Home Office initially indicated it intended to challenge the ruling, but confirmed in February 2023 that it would not do so. It is now extending pre-settled status by five years for people approaching the expiry of their status to ensure nobody loses their residency rights because they didn't make a further application. While EU citizen campaign groups have welcomed the Home Office's changes, they still warn that some people could still face a bureaucratic maze in trying to prove how long they have been living in the UK. Grassroots movement the 3 Million suggested the way the government has chosen to implement the High Court's judgement "still puts at risk people whose residence history is not straightforward". "If someone hasn't either had a continuous job or claimed welfare benefits during their five years of continuously living in the UK, then they are not likely to benefit from this automatic grant of settled status," a spokesperson said. "Instead, the Home Office will put the burden of proof on EU citizens - to show they've lived here continuously and they qualify for settled status. "We've seen many people who are unable to meet the high threshold of bureaucratic evidence the Home Office requires: from stay-at-home mums being refused settled status because their names are not on any household bills, to people who lost their job and lived with friends for a while, and the most vulnerable of whom were pushed into destitution and homelessness. "We are concerned that EU citizens and family members with complex life circumstances will fall through the net of this policy, have their immigration status curtailed and be pushed into exploitation." Many of you have reported receiving an email about #eVisas from the Home Office which is very granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme should already have a UKVI account and be able to see their digital status - which is now referred to as an eVisa. — the3million (@the3million) December 11, 2024 As an alternative, the 3 Million proposes granting indefinite leave to remain to all EU citizens with pre-settled status after five years of being granted that status, provided there are no other suitability issues. Kate Smart, CEO of Settled, a charity set up in 2019 to help EU citizens living in the UK after Brexit, acknowledged that the automated process "will give a lot of people peace of mind about their future". However, she said the charity already has concerns that "Home Office letters being sent to EU citizens about such changes are too long and complex and causing unnecessary confusion and anxiety". "In some cases, EU citizens who want to comply with the rules are taking the wrong steps because they don't understand," Smart added. "Secondly we have concerns for those people whose cases are not automatically updated and will still need to present evidence, perhaps going back years, to prove their right to remain. "Finally, even with Settled Status, we know many people find the digital system hard to use and believe a paper document is needed." In guidance published earlier this month, the Home Office said there is "no change to our digital approach", adding that "physical documents can be lost, stolen, damaged or tampered with". The department says evidence of residence "can be as little as a utility bill, bank statements or a letter from a GP or charity". What are the ETIAS travel rules for Brits travelling to Europe? 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