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Germany extends ‘trust’ period for employing UK citizens after Brexit

The German government has told employers that until the end of 2021, they can continue to trust the word of British citizens on their right to live and work in Germany after Brexit.

Published: 22 June 2021 17:48 CEST
Updated: 22 July 2021 17:45 CEST
Germany extends 'trust' period for employing UK citizens after Brexit
A UK citizen hands over their passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Andreas Gebert

The change came with little fanfare in a minor tweak to a memo on the Interior Ministry’s website, and was soon picked up by citizens’ rights campaign group British in Germany.

The memo reads: “Until the end of 2021, you can trust a statement by UK nationals and their family members to have a right of residence under the Withdrawal Agreement.

“You can at least always assume that this is the case if the entitled employee was living in Germany on 31st December 2020.” 

Previously, officials had only advised employers to follow this “trust” policy until June 30th – the date by which British citizens are advised to register with their local foreigner’s office (Ausländerbehörde).

READ ALSO: What happens if Brits in Germany don’t apply for post-Brexit residence card by deadline?

While registering with the foreigner’s office is not a prerequisite for securing post-Brexit Withdrawal Agreement rights in Germany, it is currently the only way for Brits to be issued a residency card, which confirms those rights. 

However, with around a week to go until the June deadline, many British citizens in Germany are still waiting for their card. 

Brits face long wait for residence card

With the revised guidance for employers, the Ministry appears to be acknowledging the long lag that many Brits have faced between their post-Brexit appointments and receiving their new residency title. 

While most German states have been conducting appointments since the start of the year, some Brits have been left waiting up to three months for their card to arrive, with no way to prove their right to remain or work in the country. 

In a survey carried out by The Local on Brits’ experiences of securing their rights, around three quarters of respondents said they had already had their appointment, but only half of these had received their documentation. 

READ ALSO: Postcode lottery: Brits in Germany on what it’s like to apply for the post-Brexit residence card

“If your employees are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, they are entitled to work for you, even if they do not have the relevant document,” the Ministry for the Interior said in a statement to employers.

“If you know that your employee is entitled, you are not required to take any further steps.”

British citizens are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement if they were resident in Germany before January 1st 2021, when the post-Brexit transition period officially ended and Britain left the Single Market and Customs Union.

This gives them broadly the same rights as EU citizens to live and work in Germany, but without onward free movement rights around the European Union. 

According to the Ministry, the “trust” policy should apply to both current UK employees who were working for the company before the cut-off date, and new employees who are due to start this year. 

“In some cases, it may take the authorities until the end of 2021 to finalise the processing [of the residency document],” they said. 

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

Published: 8 December 2023 14:34 CET
OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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