European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill — Clause 7 — Physical Proof of Right of Permanant Residence in the UK — 22 Jan 2020 at 14:05

The majority of MPs voted against giving non-United Kingdom citizens with a right of permanent residence in the United Kingdom the option of obtaining a document providing physical proof of their residence rights.

MPs were considering the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill.^[1]

The motion supported by a majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 1.

The rejected Lords amendment^[2] stated:

• Leave out Clause 7 and insert the following new Clause—
• “
• Rights related to residence
• (1) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision implementing—
• (a) Article 18(4) of the withdrawal agreement (right of eligible citizens to receive a residence document),
• (b) Article 17(4) of the EEA EFTA separation agreement (right of eligible citizens to receive a residence document), and
• (c) Article 16(4) of the Swiss citizens’ rights agreement (right of eligible citizens to receive a residence document), including making provision for a physical document providing proof of residence.
• (2) Subsection (1) applies in the same way to—
• (a) persons within the personal scope of the withdrawal agreement having the right to reside in the United Kingdom, and (b) persons to whom the provisions in paragraph (a) do not apply but who are eligible for—
• (i) indefinite leave to enter or remain, or
• (ii) limited leave to enter or remain, by virtue of residence scheme immigration rules (see section 17).”

The original clause 7^[3][4], which was retained following this vote, was titled: Rights related to residence: application deadline and temporary protection and began:

• (1) A Minister of the Crown may by regulations make such provision as the Minister considers appropriate for any of the following purposes—

the provision enabled a minister to make arrangements relating to the immigration status of EU citizens, EEA EFTA nationals, and Swiss nationals following the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.

During the debate prior to the vote Government minister interpreted the effect of the rejected amendment as follows^[6]:

• The first part of the amendment establishes a declaratory system and the second part requires Ministers to bring forward regulations making provisions for those with declaratory rights to apply for a document evidencing their rights. This amendment would mean the successful EU settlement scheme in its current form would need to be abandoned, because there would be no need to register if people could later rely on a declaration that they were already in the UK.
• [1] Parliament's webpage on the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill. Parliament.uk website
• [2] Lords amendments to the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, Parliament.uk website
• [3] Version of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill as introduced to the House of Lords, 9 January 2020, Parliament.uk website
• [4] Explanatory notes to the version of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill as introduced to the House of Lords, 9 January 2020, , Parliament.uk website
• [5] Explanatory notes to Lords Amendment 1, Parliament.uk website
• [6] Steve Barclay MP, (Conservative, North East Cambridgeshire), Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, House of Commons, Official Record, 22 January 2020

Debate in Parliament |