On 27 February 2017, the House of Commons confirmed in a vote that Brexit should trigger Article 50. Therefore, Prime Minister Theresa May is set to announce that EU citizens who move to the UK after Article 50 is triggered might no longer be entitled to the full free movement right and an automatic right to settle in the UK.<\/p>\n
It is believed that this early action is aiming to stop EU nationals rushing to enter the UK pre-Brexit, especially Romanian and Bulgarian. The Home Secretary has said that the government is \u2018against cliff edges\u2019 and the number of migrants would not just suddenly fall afterwards. However, it is possible that new visa schemes would be announced and new EU migrants\u2019 access to benefits will be restricted.<\/p>\n
According to the statistics published by the Guardian, more than 12,800 EU had requested permanent residence from July 2016 to December 2016. However, the rejection rate of EU citizens seeking permanent residence has reached 28%.<\/p>\n