A government advert telling EU citizens what they need to do to stay in the UK after Brexit has been banned. In the Home Office radio advert aired in April and said: “All you need to apply is your passport or ID card and to complete an online form”.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the claim was misleading as many applicants had to submit further documents which were not stated in the advert. In response the Home Office said: “We completely disagree with ASA’s decision.”
The advert was part of the EU Settlement Scheme which aims to help EU citizens and their families live and work in the UK once the freedom of movement comes to an end due to Brexit. People who are applying are required to prove their identity, show they live in the UK and declare any criminal convictions.
There is around three million EU citizens who live in the UK and they have until at least December 2020 to submit their application for the settled status.
Statistics showed that 800,000 applications have been dealt with by June 30th in which 65% were granted full status and 35% were granted pre-settled status.
The full advert said: “If you’re an EU citizen living in the UK, you will need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
“The scheme is fully open and you have plenty of time to apply.
“It is free and all you need is your passport or ID card and to complete an online form.”
Many complaints of the adverts were around the fact it failed to mention that applicants also needed to give further proof of address covering the last five years.
The ASA said: “Listeners would likely understand that an official application process of this nature would always require some applicants to provide further information in exceptional cases.
“However, we understood that in 27% of decided adult cases, applicants had been asked to provide additional documents as evidence of residence.
“Furthermore, some applicants were also asked for other documents, such as evidence of a family relationship.”
It added: “While we acknowledged that applicants were not required specifically to submit ‘proof of address’ (as referenced by the complainant), some were required to submit further documents beyond those stated in the ad.
“We considered that the actual proportion who were asked to submit further documents was likely to go beyond what the audience was likely to understand from the claim.
“In that context, we considered that the ad did not make sufficiently clear that, in some cases, applicants would need to supply documents beyond their passport or ID card.”
Anyone granted settled status will be entitled to the same work, healthcare, housing and education rights after Britain leaves the EU as they do now.
