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Boost for Brits in EU as UK government backs key Brexit amendment

Campaigners for the rights of Britons across the EU were celebrating a small but potentially significant victory on Wednesday when the UK government announced it would back an amendment aimed at protecting the rights of Brits after Brexit.

Published: 27 February 2019 16:12 CET
Boost for Brits in EU as UK government backs key Brexit amendment
Photo: AFP

After a day of confusion and chaos in Westminster the UK government gave a much-needed and timely boost to the 1.2 million Britons living through out the EU and the 3 million in EU citizen in the UK when it decided to back a potentially crucial amendment.

The amendment, put forward by Conservative MP Alberto Costa, would, if given the green light by MPs on Wednesday evening, force British Prime Minister Theresa May to seek a deal with the EU to ring-fence the citizens' rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement before Brexit Day on March 29th.

On Tuesday Prime Minister May had spoken against the amendment and then on Wednesday MP Alberto Costa was forced to resign from the government, much to the disgust and shock of other MPs and campaigners. 

 

But then to everyone's surprise the government announced it would back the amendment. With the support of the government plus at least 150 MPs from all parties, both pro and anti-Brexit, it appears certain the amendment will be voted through.

Campaign groups British in Europe and the3Million were celebrating victory.

 

 
However there is still a long way to go before the rights of Britons are ring-fenced.
 
On Tuesday Theresa May suggested the EU “did not have the legal authority to do a separate deal on citizens' rights without a new mandate.” 
 
Although the3Millon say their own legal experts suggest she is wrong.
 
Speaking on Wednesday Minister David Lidington said the EU had previously made it clear that it would not allow just the citizens' rights part of the withdrawal agreement to stand on its own.
 
But he says the government will now take it up with Brussels and see if they can be persuaded to change position.
 
 
 
 

Member comments

  1. Where does the figure of 1.2 million Brits in Europe come from? Are they the ones who are registered with a British Embassy/Consulate? Apart the fact that we renew our British passports every ten years for nearly 4 decades, no-one in British officialdom has a clue where my wife and I live – and there are doubtless many like us. So what is the real number of disenfranchised Brits on the continent, I wonder? I would guess far in excess of the official number.

  2. Do we know yet if this ring-fencing applies just to those who already have cartes de sejour of some kind. Our prefecture will not take in any applications until May, so they say, and hence are we left out in the cold?

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RESIDENCY PERMITS

Why is it so hard to get an appointment at some of Spain’s foreigner offices?

One of the reasons Brits in Spain say they haven't got a TIE residency card yet is the apparent impossibility of getting an appointment at their local extranjería office or police station. So is there any truth to this?

Published: 17 May 2024 10:34 CEST
Why is it so hard to get an appointment at some of Spain's foreigner offices?

Anyone who has tried to do anything official in Spain will be well aware of the dreaded cita previa system, whereby they must first make an appointment.

For foreign residents, this is not a simple task. It’s not just a question of simply making an appointment as more often than not, there aren’t any available.

And it’s not like you can just log-on a day later and find more. Many people spend weeks or even months trying to make these appointments, so they can carry out mandatory bureaucratic procedures.

These appointments are needed for everything from applying for or renewing your TIE if you’re non-EU to getting your EU green residency card. They’re needed again when going in for fingerprinting or even just trying to pick up your card once it’s ready.

Earlier this week, the British Embassy in Madrid stressed that it’s “really important” that the 200,000+ UK nationals in Spain with a green residency certificate exchange it for a TIE card “as soon as possible” to avoid issues with the EU’s new Entry-Exit System. 

READ ALSO – ‘Get the TIE now’: Brits in Spain urged to exchange residency document

The problem is that the exchange has never been made compulsory, only strongly encouraged and around half of British residents in Spain still haven’t gotten their TIE after Brexit.

In reaction to the announcement by the British Embassy, numerous British residents in Spain commented how hard it is get an appointment at their local police station or extranjería (foreign affairs) office.

Could the difficulty in getting an appointment be one of the reasons to blame for this?

So why are these cita previas so coveted and why are they so difficult to get?

Unfortunately, it’s not just a question of simple Spanish bureaucracy. There’s something slightly more sinister going on here. The fact of the matter is that if you go to certain relocation companies, firms and agencies they can get you an appointment straightaway – if you pay for it.

A year ago in May 2023, Spain arrested 69 people for blocking appointments at immigration offices. They were accused of booking up all the available appointments via a computer bot to later sell to foreigners to make a profit, despite the fact that this process should be free.

Arrests were carried out in Madrid, Albacete, Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Barcelona, ​​Vizcaya, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, the Balearic Islands, Marbella, Murcia, Tarragona, Tenerife, Toledo and Valencia, which gives us an idea of how widespread the illegal practice is.

Although Spanish police managed to dismantle this particular ring of criminals, it did not solve the problem.

Just seven months later in December 2023, ONG Movimiento Por la Paz (MPDL) confirmed to Levante news in Valencia that the ministry’s network had been hacked for two years and that it was unfair to foreigners who were being discriminated against because of it. 

They also claimed that the police and foreign ministry knew about the problem and still let it happen. 

Vincente Marín, CEO and lawyer for Parainmigrantes website aimed at foreign residents and those wanting Spanish nationality, confirmed this in a video he posted on the site.

He explained that bots hack into the system and that whenever appointments become available, they can book them up in seconds and then sell them on the black market for between €100 and €200, admitting it was a big problem for his firm too.

The initial screen of the appointment page (cita previa) on Spain’s extranjería website, and where many foreigners find it impossible to book residency official processes.

Fast forward to February 2024 and a group of lawyers and gestores from Castellón and Valencia denounced the system, saying that it was “controlled by criminal mafias”. They also cited the problem of bots hacking the system and complained that some of their clients still hadn’t been able to get appointments in five or six months.

In May of this year, the issue is still ongoing. Balearic news site Ultima Hora reported several readers who had been trying to get appointments for months in Mallorca and had been unsuccessful.

One has to get an appointment before her residency card runs out in June and was even considering paying an agency who were asking for €200 to help her get one.

Wherever there’s a sizable population of foreigners, from Barcelona to Valencia, the extranjería website has generally been ‘hacked by bots’.

In order to improve the situation more national police have been called in to work at the Immigration Office in Orihuela (Alicante) because of the number of foreigners living in the area. The police there have confirmed that they have allocated more resources for the issuance of documents too, to try and speed up processes. 

If you’re trying for an appointment the best option is to aim to not pay for one if you can help it, as you’re only fuelling the problem.

Reputable law firms may still be able to help you get one by dedicating more resources to applying for them manually, but you shouldn’t have to pay over the odds for what should be a free service. 

Here are our tips on how to get a cita previa when it seems impossible. 

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