The Home Office is one of the key government departments involved in delivering Brexit, and one area of focus for the Department is the effective delivery of immigration services as the UK leaves the EU.
More than three million EU citizens living in the UK, and a further 230,000 EU citizens a year if current levels of immigration persist, may become subject to immigration control.
New immigration processes are expected for EU nationals already living in the UK, for those arriving during the transition period and for the long term once the transition period has ended.
However, there is still a serious lack of detail on what the new arrangements will be.
The Home Office needs to plan for delivery of new arrangements, some of which are due to start later this year and some of which are due to be in place for March 2019.
Registration and administration arrangements need to change, and new IT systems need to be developed.
Enforcement mechanisms need to adapt and customs and border arrangements may have to change too.
The Government must immediately set out plans for the post-Brexit registration of EU nationals living in the UK.
Failure to do so soon will deny Parliament and those affected the opportunity to scrutinise or debate the Government's plans before they are finalised with the EU, despite the fact that this is such a crucial policy area. That is unacceptable.
The lack of detail and uncertainty for EEA nationals with just months to go before the process to confirm their status is supposed to start and only a year to go before Brexit is difficult and stressful for those affected.
It also raises serious questions about UK Visas and Immigration's level of preparedness and ability to deliver a new system.
If key questions are not swiftly resolved and delivery plans drawn up, we do not believe that UK Visas and Immigration will be capable of delivering significant changes to the system either at the border or on registration by March 2019.
The Government has a responsibility to Parliament, the public, EU citizens who will be affected, employers and the public servants it expects to deliver the policies to provide some urgent clarity on its intentions.
The Home Office has two months to respond to our report. Read our report and find out more about our inquiry on our website.
