She’s been here 45 years jfc just give her the right to work at this point
What she basically stateless all this time, based on the article? How did it take this long for her to figure that out?
I was about to say it read as though she just hadn’t done it properly:
> She was told that her application could not be accepted without a form of ID.
But then…
> She has never travelled abroad and has never needed a passport; she was told that her driving licence and Spanish birth certificate were not adequate proof of ID.
…it reads as though she has these things and they still wouldn’t accept them. That is some bullshit.
Also…
> Born in Spain to a Spanish father and an Italian mother, she has contacted both embassies in the UK for assistance. **The Italian embassy told her she would need to apply for nationality based on descent which could take up to 10 years.**
What on earth is causing that kind of delay? It’s insane.
This article is a very unique set of circumstances. Honestly her mother/father should have applied for a Spanish passport when they first moved to the UK so that there could be a paper trail. I’m surprised the DVLA was ok with her getting a driving license without a valid Spanish passport or Spanish ID card. It’s going to be tricky for her since she can’t find out where her Dad is, but if she has her parents’ marriage certificate and an idea where her father was born she should be able to get a Spanish passport. I always feel frustrated about cases like these, how can you not have some form of identification? Especially if you were born in another country? I understand for EU people there was freedom of movement, but this is something she should have sorted out decades ago.
We had to shell out over £1k on my brother’s registration application so that he is recognised as a British citizen even though he was born here. I had to convince my parents that it’s the right thing to do and that EU settled status cannot be depended on. I had to pay over £1500 myself on my own naturalisation application even though I lived here since early teens.
I don’t want to be victim blaming here but if you are 45 year old living under the radar with no valid travel document in a country you are not a citizen of, I am not surprised nobody can figure out how to bite it. Her parents should have applied to get her British citizenship, or at least Spanish/Italian passport before she turned 10. She is now effectively stateless.
And this in a climate where they are begging over 50s to come back out of retirement to help ease the pressure of vacancies and “spiraling wages”.
Firing care home workers in a care home worker crisis, seems rather self defeating.
Anyone who thinks after 45 years she does not deserve full citizenship is just a hateful numptie.
That is so dire read
Looks like some facts are omitted from article.
She is married- to get married she needed some sort of ID’s, also marriage certificate can be used as proof of ID, same for driving licence (but not for EU settlement scheme).
Having copy of Spanish birth certificate will allow her to apply for Spanish passport pretty easily, even if the copy is old, as it is about reference number which is still valid and data is checked against reference number ( she will probably have to apply for DNI- national id card, first or in the same time, and doesn’t have to provide old passport as she never held one, plus passport photos and usual forms and fees). There is no such requirement to apply for it before 18 years old- anyway, before she turned 18 only her parents could do it on her behalf, not her herself.
For EU Settlement Scheme: even if she did applied on a last day, if she applied online she would get confirmation at the moment of submitting application, if she did applied by post she would received letter within 4 weeks confirming application to it with date backdated of the day of HO receiving her paperwork- and since then her right to work will be protected to the moment she will be notified about outcome of her application- so even if she wouldn’t get decision it wouldn’t affect her right to live and work in UK.
EU settlement scheme is tied to travel document held by person who applied for it: can be passport, or can be national ID, as HO doesn’t provide physical documents but only virtual proof.
This is not just about her right to work and live in UK- it is about many missed opportunities to sort it out, even applied for British citizenship which she would be entitled (by marriage and long residency), which she can’t blame solely on Home Office, as other options do not have any relationship with British immigration system.
I do understand some people are not smart enough to deal with all paperwork, especially with legal work, but it looks like she did missed many, many opportunities offered (for free) to people having trouble getting documents, or even illiterate- and now is trying to blame ”system” forcing her to realise what is her legal status, even if she- and her parents apparently- didn’t bother before. She must had been aware she is not British citizen or will have at some point right to work and live in UK if she did applied for EU Settlement Scheme, and she had many years to look into, so good luck for her now trying to sort it in rush.
All this bother because a long time ago some people decided this bit of rock was theirs and another bit of rock was someone elses. Who gives a fuck where she’s from? Let her get back to her life.
10 comments
She’s been here 45 years jfc just give her the right to work at this point
What she basically stateless all this time, based on the article? How did it take this long for her to figure that out?
I was about to say it read as though she just hadn’t done it properly:
> She was told that her application could not be accepted without a form of ID.
But then…
> She has never travelled abroad and has never needed a passport; she was told that her driving licence and Spanish birth certificate were not adequate proof of ID.
…it reads as though she has these things and they still wouldn’t accept them. That is some bullshit.
Also…
> Born in Spain to a Spanish father and an Italian mother, she has contacted both embassies in the UK for assistance. **The Italian embassy told her she would need to apply for nationality based on descent which could take up to 10 years.**
What on earth is causing that kind of delay? It’s insane.
This article is a very unique set of circumstances. Honestly her mother/father should have applied for a Spanish passport when they first moved to the UK so that there could be a paper trail. I’m surprised the DVLA was ok with her getting a driving license without a valid Spanish passport or Spanish ID card. It’s going to be tricky for her since she can’t find out where her Dad is, but if she has her parents’ marriage certificate and an idea where her father was born she should be able to get a Spanish passport. I always feel frustrated about cases like these, how can you not have some form of identification? Especially if you were born in another country? I understand for EU people there was freedom of movement, but this is something she should have sorted out decades ago.
We had to shell out over £1k on my brother’s registration application so that he is recognised as a British citizen even though he was born here. I had to convince my parents that it’s the right thing to do and that EU settled status cannot be depended on. I had to pay over £1500 myself on my own naturalisation application even though I lived here since early teens.
I don’t want to be victim blaming here but if you are 45 year old living under the radar with no valid travel document in a country you are not a citizen of, I am not surprised nobody can figure out how to bite it. Her parents should have applied to get her British citizenship, or at least Spanish/Italian passport before she turned 10. She is now effectively stateless.
And this in a climate where they are begging over 50s to come back out of retirement to help ease the pressure of vacancies and “spiraling wages”.
Firing care home workers in a care home worker crisis, seems rather self defeating.
Anyone who thinks after 45 years she does not deserve full citizenship is just a hateful numptie.
That is so dire read
Looks like some facts are omitted from article.
She is married- to get married she needed some sort of ID’s, also marriage certificate can be used as proof of ID, same for driving licence (but not for EU settlement scheme).
Having copy of Spanish birth certificate will allow her to apply for Spanish passport pretty easily, even if the copy is old, as it is about reference number which is still valid and data is checked against reference number ( she will probably have to apply for DNI- national id card, first or in the same time, and doesn’t have to provide old passport as she never held one, plus passport photos and usual forms and fees). There is no such requirement to apply for it before 18 years old- anyway, before she turned 18 only her parents could do it on her behalf, not her herself.
For EU Settlement Scheme: even if she did applied on a last day, if she applied online she would get confirmation at the moment of submitting application, if she did applied by post she would received letter within 4 weeks confirming application to it with date backdated of the day of HO receiving her paperwork- and since then her right to work will be protected to the moment she will be notified about outcome of her application- so even if she wouldn’t get decision it wouldn’t affect her right to live and work in UK.
EU settlement scheme is tied to travel document held by person who applied for it: can be passport, or can be national ID, as HO doesn’t provide physical documents but only virtual proof.
This is not just about her right to work and live in UK- it is about many missed opportunities to sort it out, even applied for British citizenship which she would be entitled (by marriage and long residency), which she can’t blame solely on Home Office, as other options do not have any relationship with British immigration system.
I do understand some people are not smart enough to deal with all paperwork, especially with legal work, but it looks like she did missed many, many opportunities offered (for free) to people having trouble getting documents, or even illiterate- and now is trying to blame ”system” forcing her to realise what is her legal status, even if she- and her parents apparently- didn’t bother before. She must had been aware she is not British citizen or will have at some point right to work and live in UK if she did applied for EU Settlement Scheme, and she had many years to look into, so good luck for her now trying to sort it in rush.
All this bother because a long time ago some people decided this bit of rock was theirs and another bit of rock was someone elses. Who gives a fuck where she’s from? Let her get back to her life.