Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Answer of 28 January 2020 to Question 6772 on Devolution: Northern Ireland, whether the immigration route to be offered to the family members of people in Northern Ireland will come into force before the end of the transition period.

The Home Office intends to change the Immigration Rules to enable eligible family members of the people of Northern Ireland to apply for UK immigration status on broadly the same terms as the family members of Irish citizens in the UK. This route will be opened in the near future.

Any rights held by such individuals by virtue of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 will be unaffected by the implementation of this route.