EU nationals and remain campaigners have reacted with anger to a Home Office video outlining the application process for EU citizens who want to continue living in the country after 31 December 2020.
Criticism focused on the upbeat tone of the video, which features “cheery” music and pictures of smiling people, and details the EU settlement scheme.
The scheme, which is being tested and will be operational by 30 March, will check the identity, UK residence status and criminal record of all EU citizens living in the UK.
The video also outlines application fees for the process, which will cost £65 for an adult and £32.50 for children under 16, though will be free for those who already have a permanent residence card or indefinite leave to remain.
EU citizens and their families will need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK after 31 December 2020.
— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) December 27, 2018
Find out more: https://t.co/S5UB9n8iFU #Brexit pic.twitter.com/HdqySqRk8M
“Getting status under the scheme means you can continue to live, work and study in the UK as you can now,” says the video. “We’re making the application process as quick and user-friendly as possible.”
Many EU citizens have reacted angrily to the news they will have to apply to stay in Britain, though the government announced this would be the case in June.
“You absolute s****! I’ve lived here 35 years, got a stamp in my passport for ‘indefinite leave to remain’ in 1985 and now you want me to apply to stay in my own home,” wrote Lene Kruhoffer, a Danish citizen who lives in Britain.
Max Fras, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, sarcastically expressed his “deep gratitude” at the opportunity to pay £65 “for the possibility of letting an app as reliable as Southern Rail on a snowy day to decide the future of my existence”.
Many objected to the timing of the video’s release, at 8.30am on 27 December, the first tweet from the Home Office’s official account after its message wishing people a happy Christmas.
One Twitter user said the photographs of “happy EU millennials” used in the video were stock images.
