By Ben Kerrigan-
The U.K has announced plans to allow visa-free travel for EU citizens entering the country post Brexit, according to the Times reported Thursday. However, restrictions on employment will be imposed.
The report, under the draft Home Office proposals will mean that EU citizens will be able to move to the U.K and look for jobs. Prospective employees would have to sponsor applicants by purchasing permits from the Government, which are limited in number depending on individual sectors of the economy. without restrictions. But prospective employers will have to sponsor EU applicants by applying for permits issued by the government.
The plan is yet to be finalized and agreed across government. The announcement does not amount to the same as giving EU citizens permanent residency because permits of the type in question will have have duration periods attached to them, in other words, have a life span. There has not been any final agreement in relation to how the issue of permanent residency will work for EU nationals in Britain or British Expats in the EU.
Mp’s have tried to pressurize Theresa May to grant indefinite stay to all EU nationals in Britain, but the prime minister has not yielded. Instead, she has stressed the need for any such move to be reciprocated by EU chiefs,who have been silent on the matter.
Tory MP John Redwood, has thrown his support behind the plan, saying a permit system is a better way to control immigration than border checks. Redwood told the Times:
“The main way the government is likely to enforce a new migration policy is through work permits for EU citizens from the Continent, whether they enter direct or via the Republic of Ireland,” Redwood told the Times.
The work permits would be seen as a way of appeasing EU chiefs, and making positive steps to weaken the locked tension currently brewing in relation to talks and negotiations.