A Spanish national was arrested at Luton Airport, UK, after spending a Christmas holiday in her home country.
A Spanish woman – who we’ll call Maria – was deported from the UK after returning from a Christmas holiday in Malaga, even though she had documents attesting to her right to live and work in the country.
The 34-year-old was detained overnight at Luton Airport and then returned to Spain on Boxing Day.
Border officials reportedly told her that she “wasted his time” whether she believed that the Home Office documents she possessed which attested to her right to be in the United Kingdom would allow her entry into the country.
“I came home because my sister had just had a baby girl, and four days later, at Luton Airport, they took me to the detention room, took my things and my phone and m said to wait there“, Maria tells the Guardian.
“They left me there all night, then put me on a plane“.
Maria’s husband flew to Spain to help his wife after British border authorities banned him from traveling to the UK again for at least a month.
“I was supposed to go back to work, but now my life is gone. All my stuff is in the UK: my dog, my car. I was doing this apprenticeship as a veterinary nurse, which was my dream. If I try…to go back, it will be even worse“, she adds.
The incident highlighted some of the problems facing EU citizens whose applications to remain in the UK following the Brexit deal have not yet been finalised.
The Spaniard had submitted a late application for the EU settlement program in 2023.
However, her request was refused in June on the grounds that she had not provided sufficient evidence.
She has since requested an administrative review of the decision and obtained a Certificate of Authorization (CoA) from the Home Office.
This certificate states the following: “you can work in the UK until you receive a decision on your application under the EU Settlement Scheme“.
Having lived in the United Kingdom between 2014 and 2018, Maria returned there more recently after a stay in South Africa. COVID roadblocks prevented her and her husband from returning sooner.
Under current rules, Maria must prove that her absence from the UK was not so long as to invalidate her rights under the Withdrawal Agreement.
Border authorities refused him entry because his “application for EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme) has been refused“, reports the Guardian.
It was also clarified to him: “you no longer have the right to enter the UK as set out in the Citizens’ Rights (Application Deadline and Temporary Protection) Regulations 2020“.
Maria denies this claim, saying that his current certificate of application simply states his right to work in the UK while his case is still under review.
She is currently seeking legal advice and says she is prepared to take her case to the Home Office.
The latter has already stated that the problem for people with the certificate of fitness for employment who try to enter the country is not about their right to work, but rather about proof that they have the right to be in the country.
People who are refused entry at the border are “likely to be detained pending removal from the United Kingdom“.
The Interior Ministry added that the situation “is not the same as that of a person subject to a deportation order which, if valid, would prevent them from re-entering the United Kingdom“.
A Certificate of Authorization (CoA) does not give an EU citizen the right to enter and leave the countryhe continues.
Since December 2020, officials have been allowed to ask CoA holders to provide additional evidence of their UK residency when they present at the border.
“Border authorities’ number one priority is ensuring the security of our borders and we will never compromise on this.“, declares the Ministry of the Interior, quoted by The Guardian.