I received the very intimidating EU settlement letter on Saturday (Home Office sends letters warning of immigration status to UK citizens, 17 May). I became a French national 10 years ago; I’ve been married for 32 years to someone born in France but who has spent all his life in England. I was born in Norwich to parents and forebears who never left Norfolk. I’ve held a British passport for over 50 years and have worked for 30 years in English education. Surely, various government departments must have plenty of evidence about me by now?
I now know that I am not vulnerable but have been targeted as an EU scrounger because of my earned state pension. In spite of their valued contributions to British life, there will be a lot of other people who are actually at risk.
I deplore the scattergun approach of the government in sending out this threatening letter, seemingly to anyone with a European connection. However, I feel even more angry at the recent treatment of visiting EU nationals (Handcuffed, detained, denied medicine: EU citizens’ UK border ordeals, 17 May). Hot on the heels of the Windrush scandal, and the hostility to others who have actually been invited to live, work and contribute here without any proper guarantees, it’s time this vicious, chaotic, inept and xenophobic government and its departments were brought to account.
Jill Napier
Norwich
• Matthew Rycroft’s letter (14 May) refers to the Home Office as a “beacon of light for the vulnerable” despite the fact that during his tenure, the hostile environment continued and the attitude of “let the buggers wait” reined supreme. Did he have his eyes and ears closed?
To illustrate with one small example of the unhelpful bureaucratic procedures and fees imposed on those using the Home Office. One of our clients, having paid the £2,612 fee and immigration health surcharge to obtain an extension of his stay for a further 30 months, was wrongly granted only 18 months’ extra leave. The Home Office admitted that this was a mistake, but instead of just correcting it, my client was expected to complete a new online form requesting an administrative review for a payment of £80. My client is a full-time student and does not have the money to pay. The Home Office should revise its original decision automatically in such circumstances.
Such administrative problems should be easily remedied, but more extensive problems are also developing. With 51 years of experience working for a charity organisation assisting clients with their immigration problems, including scores of Windrush cases, I should warn both Mr Rycroft and the secretary of state that a second Windrush-style crisis is building but this time affecting EU nationals. In many cases, the status of dependants and children of EU nationals has not been determined. Lack of clarity about their status will cause problems for families in the future – on our free advice line, many EU nationals are already reporting that they and their children are treated unjustly at ports of entry and by the Home Office. This could, moreover, create further difficulties in the relationship between the EU and UK.
Himat Lakhani
General secretary, Migrant Legal Action
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