A retired hospitality worker who has lived in the UK for 60 years has spoken of his relief at being allowed to stay here under the EU Settlement Scheme.
Neville Pullicino, 80, above, who has lived in Eastbourne for 40 years, was told in April he could only stay another six months unless he proved his identity via a smartphone app he could not access.
And the paper version of the application for settled status would have taken six months to process, he was told.
Mr Pullicino has now received confirmation from the Home Office that he has ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’ after an anxious few weeks.
He told the Eastbourne Reporter: “It was a great relief. If anything happens in Malta with my family, now I can go straight away.”
Mr Pullicino previously said he felt “like a criminal” after he was made to wait at Gatwick’s passport control in April for 90 minutes when he returned from a visit to family in Malta.
He was given a passport stamp allowing him only six months and “no recourse to public funds”. He is eligible for and receives pension credit.
He is one of ten surviving siblings, six of whom still live in Malta and who he visits. He is the only family member in the UK.
Mr Pullicino was helped to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by Compaid in Paddock Wood, near Tonbridge in Kent, a charity which helps older and disadvantaged people with technology.
The EU Settlement Scheme was set up after Brexit so EU citizens who wanted to live in the UK after Brexit would have a new immigration status.
Mr Pullicino had never been informed that he needed anything more than his Maltese passport and was unaware he had to apply to the scheme. He had not previously encountered a problem at Gatwick.
Mr Pullicino, who lives in Eastbourne town centre, is originally from Malta but came to the UK in the early 1960s to work in restaurants and hotels.
He worked at many of the big Eastbourne hotels, saying he remembered when they were busy all the year round with conferences and visitors. He was head wine waiter at the Cavendish Hotel and a silver service waiter at The Grand.
Malta gained independence from Britain in 1964 but its citizens living in the UK had favoured status and full voting rights due to their status as both Commonwealth and EU citizens
Since the UK left the EU in 2020, the situation for people from countries such as Malta and Cyprus is more difficult to ascertain.
The Citizens’ Advice website says of people from those countries:
‘If you were living in the UK on or before 1 January 1973, you might not need to apply to stay in the UK. You might [our emphasis] have been given indefinite leave to remain without applying for it.’
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