UK-based Poles call for revolt against having to apply for settled status

[JohntheBike]

A Polish chef who has worked with Mary Berry and Jamie Oliver is leading a revolt by UK-based Poles against the Home Office’s requirement that EU citizens apply for settled status as part of Brexit.

More than 7,000 people have signed a petition launched this week by Damian Wawrzyniak on the UK government and parliament website to change the wording of the settlement status process from “application” to “registration”. At 10,000 signatures, the government must respond.

Wawrzyniak, a former chef at Noma in Copenhagen who has worked in Britain for 15 years and established his own UK restaurants, originally backed Brexit on the basis that it would make it easier for restaurants to select British produce ( ). But he has changed his mind and says he will ultimately refuse to apply to live in the country he now calls home.

Backing has already come from the food writer Nigel Slater and the MP for Tottenham, David Lammy, who tweeted that “future generations will be appalled that to appease the hard right we made EU citizens apply to stay in their own homes”.

UK-based Poles call for revolt against having to apply for settled status | UK news | The Guardian

correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't it always been possible for foreigners who liked this country and wished to live here could apply for British citizenship? Or were the rules too onerous?

[meridian]

correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't it always been possible for foreigners who liked this country and wished to live here could apply for British citizenship? Or were the rules too onerous?

Yes it has been possible. The same as it has been possible for thousands of British immigrants to apply for Spanish citizenship, or French citizenship, etc.

Given the choice between exercising a treaty right to live somewhere (free) and applying for citizenship to give you no different rights (not free), which one would you choose?

[JohntheBike]

Yes it has been possible. The same as it has been possible for thousands of British immigrants to apply for Spanish citizenship, or French citizenship, etc.

Given the choice between exercising a treaty right to live somewhere (free) and applying for citizenship to give you no different rights (not free), which one would you choose?

well an astute person might have weighed up the legal strength of each, and given the history of the UK being not fully integrated into the EU, e.g. we didn't adopt the Euro, might have concluded that applying for British citizenship might have been the better option. Surely looks that way now.

[Eirikur]

correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't it always been possible for foreigners who liked this country and wished to live here could apply for British citizenship? Or were the rules too onerous?

Yes and I did so, but stopped the process after the Brexit vote

[woohoo]

Yes and I did so, but stopped the process after the Brexit vote

Well whatever your views on the Brexit vote, at least you can't argue with this tangible benefit.

[Eirikur]

Well whatever your views on the Brexit vote, at least you can't argue with this tangible benefit.

Indeed, I'll keep my EU passport and I have permanent residency in the UK

[meridian]

UK-based Poles call for revolt against having to apply for settled status

well an astute person might have weighed up the legal strength of each, and given the history of the UK being not fully integrated into the EU, e.g. we didn't adopt the Euro, might have concluded that applying for British citizenship might have been the better option. Surely looks that way now.

Opt outs don’t negate the treaty rights, so “astuteness” was not required.

As I said, it works both ways. Hence the flurry of applications for German/French/Irish etc citizenship by Brits.

[m0n1k3r]

Yes it has been possible. The same as it has been possible for thousands of British immigrants to apply for Spanish citizenship, or French citizenship, etc.

Given the choice between exercising a treaty right to live somewhere (free) and applying for citizenship to give you no different rights (not free), which one would you choose?

Applying for British/Spanish/Dutch/etc citizenship also means giving up your original citizenship. It is not that many countries that allow dual citizenship.

[vetran]

Indeed, I'll keep my EU passport and I have permanent residency in the UK

oh feck!

[Platypus]

Indeed, I'll keep my EU passport and I have permanent residency in the UK

Urgh, I didn't vote for Brexit because I don't like immigrants, but for you I'll make an exception.