Nationals from the European Economic Area and Switzerland will be able to come to the UK to work, study or visit for up to three months without a visa in the increasingly-likely event of a no-deal Brexit, the government has announced.

3 month limit for EEA and Swiss citizens without visa in event of no-deal

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said European citizens would be free to enter the country as they do now, with no additional border checks, but added that, to stay longer than three months, they would need to apply for a European Temporary Leave to Remain certificate, which would be valid for a further three years after security checks."EU citizens wishing to stay for longer than three years will need to make a further application under the new skills-based future immigration system, which will begin from 2021," said the Home Office.Mr Javid told the House of Commons that EEA and Swiss citizens would "be allowed to work temporarily but will need to apply for leave, and pay an application fee, if they want to stay longer".

EEA and Swiss citizens allowed to work temporarily but will have to apply and pay application fee to stay longer

He added, "We plan to grant them three years leave subject to identity, security and criminality checks - this will give us the time needed to run our EU settlement scheme for EEA and Swiss nationals that are already living here, and ensure there is no sudden shock to UK businesses as the future system is put in place."But the leave will be strictly temporary. It cannot be extended and those who wish to stay will need to meet our future immigration requirements."The transitional period will last until December 31 2020, when our EU settlement scheme closes. From that point on, businesses will be expected to check that EEA citizens have an immigration status before allowing them to start work.

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Policy does not apply to EU citizens in UK before Brexit

"Let me be clear: this policy does not apply to those here before exit day - whose rights to live and work here in the UK will be protected by the EU settlement scheme."During the Commons debate, Labour MP Chuka Umunna asked Mr Javid to confirm that the government was "formally dumping" its commitment to reduce annual net migration to below 100,000.Mr Javid replied, "In the (immigration) white paper, which sets out our approach to the future immigration system, there are no targets. That said though, we are still very clear that we must continue to work to bring net migration down to more sustainable levels."

Government avoid net-immigration target and want to reach "sustainable" numbers

The Home Office said that, under the no-deal plan, non-EU family members who wished to accompany people granted a three-year permit, would need to apply in advance for a family permit.In a statement, the Home Office added, "EU citizens will be able to enter and leave the UK as they do now, using e-gates when travelling on a biometric passport."The initial three months’ leave to enter for EU citizens will be free of charge but applications for European Temporary Leave to Remain will be paid for. Fees will be set out at a later date."Irish citizens will not need to apply for European Temporary Leave to Remain and will continue to have the right to enter and live in the UK under the Common Travel Area."Mr Javid maintained the arrangements would honour the referendum vote to leave the EU "and end free movement once and for all – giving us full control of our borders for the first time in decades".He added, "However, we need to take a practical approach and minimise disruption to ensure the UK stays open for business. That is why we will introduce time-limited transitional arrangements and grant EU citizens coming after March 29 temporary leave."Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online DirectorySubscribe to Relocate Extra, our monthly newsletter, to get all of the international assignments and global mobility news.

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