Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2017 to Question 5358, on Immigration: EU Nationals, whether those proposals will also apply to EU-born spouses who leave the UK after the UK exits the EU having previously resided here long-term with no formalised immigration status and who then wish to re-enter the UK at a later date.

The Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK will protect EU citizens who have been exercising free movement rights in the UK at the time of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, on 29 March 2019. They will have a period of at least two years after the UK leaves the EU to apply for and secure their immigration status in UK law

Those who fall outside the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement will be subject to the post-exit immigration arrangements for EU citizens. The Government is considering a range of options for these arrangements.