The Home Office reached an out-of-court settlement with the charity The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) who had threatened a judicial review over the registration system for EU citizens.
JCWI agreed to drop its application for a judicial review after Sajid Javid’s department made changes to its guidance to caseworkers in relation to vulnerable citizens.
The Public Law Project, acting on behalf of the JCWI, said, “Following key concessions to the claim by the home secretary, JCWI have today withdrawn their claim.”
It said the agreement would have implications for hundreds of thousands of citizens nervous about their status because they were elderly, a carer, a stay-at-home parent, mentally ill, a student, homeless or out of work through no fault of their own.
As part of the settlement, the government has unequivocally confirmed it will not refuse settled status to anyone who is “economically inactive”, works part-time or lacks private health insurance.
The government has also amended rules that would have allowed Home Office caseworkers to refuse settled status to EU citizens who had previously been served with a removal notice.
