The key facts

  • the3million has filed a lawsuit in the High Court in London against the UK Home Office
  • The case concerns nearly 1,500 EU citizens stripped of pre-settled status
  • In October, the Home Office admitted its approach was mistaken and promised to take citizenship by descent into account

Lawsuit against the Home Office over revoked statuses

The rights group the3million has filed a lawsuit in the High Court in London against the UK Home Office, accusing the department of violating the Brexit agreement. According to The Guardian, the case concerns the unlawful revocation of pre-settled status from nearly 1,500 EU citizens. The campaigners argue that the Home Office acted without the procedural safeguards provided for in the agreement on the country's withdrawal from the European Union: those stripped of their status should have been given the right to appeal and to have their individual circumstances considered — including how long they had lived in the UK and how much effort they had put into establishing themselves there.

Who was affected by the decision

In the autumn, the Home Office told a number of Brazilians of Italian descent that their status had been granted 'in error', because when applying they had not presented an Italian passport but had merely stated that they were Italian citizens. Among those affected is a 33-year-old engineer with dual Brazilian and Italian citizenship who has lived in London since 2018: he was allowed to stay, while his Brazilian wife was not. Another applicant, an NHS employee and postgraduate student at a dental faculty, said the revocation of her status 'turned her life upside down'.

The Home Office has already admitted the mistake

In October, the UK Home Office admitted that its approach had been mistaken. The department assured that from now on, if a person provides evidence of Italian citizenship — including citizenship obtained by descent (jure sanguinis) — they will be treated the same as holders of an Italian passport by birth. Thus, the lawsuit was filed after the department itself had already abandoned the contested practice; the subject of the proceedings remains the consequences for those who previously lost their status without procedural safeguards. The available publications do not report the Home Office's reaction to the lawsuit itself.