UK Parliament Rejects Brexit Deal - impact on people mobility

With the House of Commons rejecting the deal the Prime Minister had agreed with Brussels, it is not clear on which terms the UK will be leaving the EU on 29 March 2019. Possible scenarios include a renegotiation of the Withdrawal Agreement, an alternative ‘soft’ Brexit or even no Brexit at all. However it is to be expected that today’s vote will have a significant political impact.

While the UK has not published any ‘no deal’ scenario planning, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs issued a statement to the Dutch Parliament on 7 January 2019 confirming which transition measures the Netherlands would put in place in case no transitional arrangement was in place between the UK and the EU on 29 March 2019. In essence the statement outlined the following:

• There would be a transition period of 15 months starting on 29 March 2019 during which British citizens residing in the Netherlands would be permitted to continue to reside, study and work in the Netherlands.

• During this transition period British citizens will receive a letter from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) to their address in which they are currently registered in the BRP (Personal Records Database) so that they can prove their right of residence during the transitional period.
• British citizens will be invited by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) to apply for a residence permit
• British citizens residing in the Netherlands for a period of shorter than five years would be able to apply for a temporary permit under the same requirements as for EU nationals residing in the Netherlands for longer than three months.
• British citizens seeking to live and work in the Netherlands after 29 March 2019 would be required to apply for residence and work authorization, but will be exempt from an entry visa.