Coronavirus: EU nationals could be forced to work during pandemic as they are denied benefits, lawyers warn

Some EU nationals who have been granted the right to remain in the UK after Brexit may feel forced to work during the coronavirus lockdown because they cannot access state benefits, lawyers have warned.

Campaigners warn that EU citizens with pre-settled status – which requires them to reapply for permanent status once they have been in Britain for five years – are being refused access to universal credit, the government’s main welfare benefit, which they say contravenes the UK’s obligations under the withdrawal agreement.

Ministers have encouraged people who have lost their jobs or who have a significantly reduced income due to the Covid-19 outbreak to apply for universal credit. Government guidelines state that while EU nationals with settled status – which grants them permanent settlement – are automatically entitled to claim, those with pre-settled status must prove their right to reside.

Immigration lawyers said this could be leaving some of the 1.3 million people who have been granted pre-settled status without any choice but to continue to work during the pandemic, even if this means breaching the government’s social distancing guidelines.

Speaking to the Home Affairs Select Committee about the issue on Tuesday, Colin Yeo, a prominent immigration barrister, said: “It’s potentially forcing people to go out and work, which is the opposite of the central guidance we’re getting from government.”

Campaign group the3million has written to ministers saying it has received numerous reports of EU citizens with pre-settled status being refused access to universal credit during the pandemic – and arguing that this was an “incorrect” implementation of the withdrawal agreement.

It said that in one case, an EU musician who lost his job at the end of January, and for whom Covid-19 means he cannot find new clients, was rejected for universal credit and has been unable to appeal against the decision.

The man is worried about how he will pay his bills this month as he now has no source of income, saying: “I literally don’t know how I am going to manage paying the rent at the end of the month.

“I have applied for universal credit but my claim was closed as I only have pre-settled status and I failed the habitual residency test. My journal on universal credit account is also closed so I cannot appeal against that decision.”

The letter from the3million, addressed to the home secretary and the work and pensions secretary, states: “The outcome is that citizens with pre-settled status – who have been granted the legal right to reside in the UK – are being discriminated against compared to British citizens.

“This cannot be right. Families are facing great hardship in these very challenging times. Any citizen granted any status via the EU Settlement Scheme should satisfy the right to reside test and be eligible for universal credit.”

Maike Bohn, co-founder of the3million, said the UK’s “incorrect” implementation of the withdrawal agreement was potentially leaving thousands of EU citizens destitute, without a safety net, and urged the government to “remove all bureaucratic hurdles for EU citizens”.

She added: “The UK is not delivering what was agreed under the withdrawal agreement. People aren’t able to get the help they need, including benefits. That is so important in times of crisis like Covid-19 where families are facing great hardship.

“Over a million of EU citizens currently hold pre-settled status and any one of them could be affected by the UK’s incorrect implementation of the withdrawal agreement.”

A government Spokesman said: “It’s wrong to suggest people are not getting universal credit because of their pre-settled status. EU citizens in the UK are able to access benefits and services in the UK on the same basis as they were before.

“We have made an unequivocal guarantee to EU citizens in the UK by protecting their rights in UK law through the Withdrawal Agreement Act and the EU settlement scheme.”