Settled status fee for EU citizens: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/17/02295
Date received: 9 October 2017
Date responded: 30 October 2017

Information requested

Any analysis has been done by the Scottish Government of the cost of paying the settled status fee of any EU citizen working in the public sector in Scotland and how many people the Scottish Government believes this policy will cover.

Response

The UK Government has stated that if there is a cost then the cost of settled status will be no more than the cost of a UK passport, which is £72.50. There are estimated to be 20,000 EU nationals employed in the public sector in Scotland. The precise numbers of individuals who are eligible and who elect to apply will only be clear once final details on process and criteria are published by the UK Government.

The Department for Exiting the European Union has published a 'joint technical note on the comparison of EU-UK positions on citizens rights' after three of the negotiation rounds; the version dated 28 September is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/joint-technical-note-on-the-comparison-of-eu-uk-positions-on-citizens-rights.

This confirms that both the UK and EU agree the cost of the process should be "free of charge or for a charge not exceeding that imposed on nationals for issuing of similar documents". The term "similar documents" refers to a UK passport, which the Prime Minister made clear in her letter to EU nationals in the UK on 19 October, which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pms-open-letter-to-eu-citizens-in-the-uk.

Annual Population Survey data for January to December 2016 estimated that 20,000 EU nationals are employed in the public sector in Scotland. Annual Population Survey data are available on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/Publications

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