Over 450,000 Romanian nationals live in the United Kingdom and over 95% of them have already applied for the EU Settlement Scheme that allows them to continue living and working in the country after Britain leaves the European Union (EU).
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday, January 29, the UK Withdrawal Agreement and Brexit is set to take place on Friday, January 31, 2020. However, no restrictions on the free movement of EU citizens in the UK will be imposed immediately, according to Romania’s Embassy in the UK.
Over 435,000 Romanians already applied for the EU Settlement Scheme, expressing their intention to stay in the UK after Brexit, according to official statistics at the end of December 2019. Romanians are thus the second-largest group of EU citizens who applied for this scheme after the Poles (512,000 applications).
Poles make the biggest group of non-British nationals in the UK, with 902,000 people (1.37% of the total population and 14.5% of the non-British population). Indians are third (351,000), followed by Irish (322,000), and Italians (297,000). More than 200,000 Portuguese and Lithuanians also live in the UK.
In total, the British authorities received over 2.75 million applications by the end of 2019, of which 2.45 million were already concluded, with 58% of the applicants receiving settled status and 41% – pre-settled status, Home Office statistics show.
Romanians who have not yet applied for the EU Settlement Scheme can do this even after Brexit, until June 30, 2021, according to Romania’s Embassy in the UK.
Read more via Romanian Insider
