What Happens When the Home Office Revokes an EU Citizen’s Post-Brexit Status by Mistake?
Summary: This article explains the Home Office’s “granted in error” policy under the EU Settlement Scheme, why some EU citizens have been told their post-Brexit residency status was wrongly awarded, and how legal challenges are testing the policy.
When the UK left the EU, it created the EU Settlement Scheme for European citizens already living in Britain. Those who wanted to stay had to apply for residency status. The Home Office granted many applications. Now it says some of those grants were mistakes.
The problem is what happens next. In late 2025, the Home Office changed its caseworker guidance to cover cases where pre-settled status had been “granted in error.” Under that policy, the Home Office treats the original grant as invalid if it later concludes the person should never have received it. A Home Office minister said the department contacted 1,473 citizens to tell them their residency rights were awarded by mistake. The Guardian reports this has left people in limbo, and the campaign group the3million, which is aware of at least 50 cases, has put the Home Office on notice that it is seeking a judicial review.
The policy matters because of how it differs from other immigration decisions. Normally, when the Home Office curtails a person’s leave, it must follow domestic law compatible with the Withdrawal Agreement. That process includes protections such as a proportionality assessment and a right of appeal. Being told your status was “granted in error” comes with no equivalent protections, according to Free Movement, an immigration law explainer. The decision can be made without the same legal safeguards.
Who has been affected? Some of the people contacted were told they were not entitled to settled or pre-settled status because they did not submit passports with their original application. That includes a group of Brazilians and others with dual Italian nationality by birth. The Home Office argued they were not Italian at the time they applied for residency. But under Italian Law No. 91 of 5 February 1992, those individuals were Italian citizens from birth. The Home Office has already conceded the issue in one administrative court case. It withdrew its decision that the claimant’s pre-settled status had been granted in error and accepted that receiving a physical Italian passport after Brexit was not the moment her Italian citizenship began.
The Home Office says those given pre-settled status in error were not withdrawal agreement beneficiaries, but they can provide evidence to the contrary if they have it. That places the burden on the individual. Free Movement advises Italian citizens who have been told their status was granted in error to consider submitting a new application for settled status. Until the courts resolve whether the policy is lawful, many people who did nothing wrong remain uncertain about their right to live in the UK.