A French woman who lost her job in the UK after a mix-up over the Brexit immigration process has had her residency and work rights restored by the Home Office after publicising her story.
Paula Serre had been waiting for two years for a final decision on her application when her life was turned upside down.
In December, the company she worked for discovered the Home Office “share code” to confirm an EU citizen’s right to work in the UK no longer worked, leaving her employer the choice of dismissing her or face a £20,000 fine.
But after Serre shared her story with the Guardian, the Home Office immediately got in touch to tell her she had mistakenly applied for a family permit under the EU settlement scheme, which is designed for relatives in the EU wishing to join their families, instead of applying for status in her own right.
Serre, who was named “Sophie” in earlier media reports, had wrongly assumed the family permit route was the correct one because she was married to a British man.
EU citizens who lived in the UK permanently before Brexit have lifelong employment and social rights protected by the Brexit withdrawal agreement, signed by the UK and the EU.
When Serre’s original application was rejected by the Home Office, she was not notified that she had filled in the wrong form, so she unwittingly went down an irrelevant route – appealing against the decision through an immigration tribunal.
She said that after the Guardian reported her case not only did she get a call from the Home Office, but her – by that point late – application for EU settled status was accepted immediately.
“I cannot put into words how grateful I am. I have literally been given my life back. Not just mine, but my husband’s, my son’s – we can now look forward to a normal, settled life, make plans and just look forward to the future,” she said.
Her husband, Liam, who works in the same logistics company in Warwickshire, is “ecstatic”, while her employer said she “couldn’t believe it”.
Serre, who estimates she has spent about £2,000 on legal fees, added: “It is incredible that after the struggle of the past two years for status to be granted in just 24 hours.”
She hopes the Home Office will adapt its procedures to help people through a process that the former home secretary Amber Rudd said should be as easy as buying shoes.
She added: “I am very thankful that someone at the Home Office was keen to do a good job because, left on my own, I might still be waiting. I think I’ve been really, really lucky, but I do hope that they change their process because there’s no point at the end of the day in not telling people.
“What did all this paperwork and all this back and forth achieve? Nothing.”
