Brexit

To mark the public launch of the EU Settlement Scheme and the Mayor of London’s EU Londoners Hub, our team of lawyers spent four days providing free immigration advice to Europeans across the capital as part of the Mayor’s #Londonisopen campaign

Working with Here for Good, the Mayor of London and Waterloo Action Centre, we spoke to hundreds of Londoners about their rights post-Brexit and the process of applying under the EU Settlement Scheme.

The four days provided a valuable snapshot of how the public have understood the EU Settlement Scheme and laid bare the sheer scale of the challenge facing the Home Office. What was clear was that there was a significant amount of confusion about the scheme: how people make an application, what they need to apply, and when they need to apply by. Here are three of the most common topics that came up:

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On Monday, 12 February, a new NGO known as Here for Good was officially launched to provide free immigration services during and beyond the Brexit process. The launch event was hosted by Professor AC Grayling, a trustee of the charity.

Two of our partners, Wesley Gryk and Alison Hunter, worked with two partners at Bindmans LLP to produce the publication ACT NOW, a free and comprehensive guide commissioned by Here for Good. The guide sets out the practical steps individuals should take to secure their rights in the UK.

The organisation has been co-founded by Isabella Mosselmans, a trainee solicitor at Wesley Gryk, alongside Tahmid Chowdhury, who was one of the interested parties in the litigation concerning the legality of triggering the Brexit withdrawal process without parliamentary approval (the Article 50 litigation). It will give particular attention to the most in-need EEA citizens living outside of London, where there are high numbers of EEA migrants but a shocking lack of comprehensive pro bono immigration services.

Alison Hunter, Isabella Mosselmans and Tahmid Chowdhury

Wesley had this to say about the firm’s involvement in this new charity: “We are very proud of Bella and Tahmid’s initiative. We would like to see it as an extension of our own firm’s commitment to providing advice and assistance to as many European nationals as possible to protect their rights, regardless of their ability to access paid legal advice. To this end we are continuing to host a number of pro bono outreach sessions to advise such Europeans, the next of which we are conducting with another sister firm, Wilsons Solicitors, at 7pm, on 7th March 2018 at Islington Town Hall, with another we hope to follow at the Waterloo Action Centre at 1pm on Saturday, 19th May 2018.

As I am overly fond of pointing out, these initiatives are in part inspired by my own Polish grandparents, all four of whom immigrated to the US a little over a hundred years ago and were able to make a go of it thanks to a pool of kind employers, teachers and other generous individuals who saw their potential and that of their children as a benefit to society and not a threat.”

Isabella and Tahmid said “With extensive support from our lawyers, we have created a Guide that will help tangibly improve people’s lives. At best, EEA citizens and their families are facing uncertainty in the aftermath of the referendum – this guide combats that, and our proposed advisory service will further enable people to take action to protect their rights in the UK”.

#Londonisopen – Reflections on four days of European outreach

Wesley Gryk Solicitors assists with launch of a new charity pledging free immigration advice to EEA citizens and their families