The Portuguese embassy in London on Tuesday warned Cristina Bookerinho that the Portuguese, who missed the June 30 deadline to apply for post-Brexit British citizenship, were at risk of “hostile environment”.
“We call on those who are eligible and those who have not yet applied for residency status to do so as soon as possible as the country is in a state of disarray on July 1 and is likely to be subject to hostile circumstances.”, Said Bookerinho at the start of a clarification session on social networking site Facebook.
The deadline for EU citizens to register is June 30 [EU Settlement Scheme] Opened under the UK’s expulsion from the European Union, allowing Europeans to retain the right to live, work or study in British territory.
An “hostile environment”, the diplomat explained, meant losing access to public health services, social grants and other forms of support or public services.
“All non-British Portuguese residing in the United Kingdom and wishing to continue living here in the United Kingdom at the same time must obtain or at least apply for citizenship by June 30.”, Warned Christina Bookerinho.
According to the Portuguese government, by March 31, 375,000 applications had already been made by Portuguese, more than the number of national citizens with addresses on their citizens’ card in the United Kingdom.
However, the embassy warned of the need for all, including minorities or recently born or adopted children, to obtain residency status, even if the majority had already done so.
“We know of families with parental status, but not asking for status for their minor children. They should do so.”, Folded.
The system is also open to direct dependent family members such as parents outside the United Kingdom or grandchildren or family members from third countries who are not part of the EU.
Immigration lawyer Chris Desira chaired the clarification session, which was promoted by the Portuguese consulate in London and Manchester in collaboration with the EU delegation.
The lawyer indirectly addressed the main issue raised in the comments, namely the difficulty in getting help at embassies and renewing a citizen’s card or passport or registering children to obtain documents.
The lawyer reiterated the importance of all Portuguese and even those with expired identity documents having to apply by June 30.
“You should try to get the right document, but if you do not get it on time, do not wait, make sure you apply on time. You can apply with the expired document. Ministry of the Interior,” he explained.
He also warned that those who have been out of the UK for more than six months due to the Govt-19 epidemic and will only return in 2021 will have to face a complicated process, explaining that those with temporary residence permits will not have a long stay.
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