Ofsted’s head of research has not been granted leave to remain in Britain after Brexit, despite having lived in the UK for more than 20 years and taught at several universities.
Daniel Muijs, originally from Antwerp, is a deputy director at the education watchdog and has held posts at six universities since moving here in 1997. He described it as “not a good feeling” to be told that his application for settled status could not be approved because he has to provide further evidence of his residence in the UK.
Dr Muijs, 50, said that he had already provided his national insurance number, which will show that he has paid tax for 22 years, but must now track down P60 forms and council tax bills covering the past six years to remain in Britain under the EU settlement scheme.
Tom Bennett, an adviser to the government on behaviour in schools, told him on Twitter: “How ridiculous and distressing for you. I’m ashamed you’ve had to go through this process.”
Dr Muijs joined Ofsted in January last year and is in charge of research and evaluation. Before that he spent eight years as a professor at the University of Southampton. From 2005 to 2010 he was a professor at the University of Manchester. He previously worked at the universities of Newcastle, Warwick, Exeter and Loughborough. He came to the UK in August 1997 to work at Newcastle University.
Dr Muijs, who has a PhD from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, is married and lives in Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire. He tweeted: “Have just found out my application for settled status in the UK has been rejected. I now need to find evidence of residence since 2013. Not a good feeling.” He said that it should have been a relatively straightforward process as he has been “on PAYE ever since I’ve been here”.
Dr Muijs said that applicants had to download an app and enter their passport details, national insurance number and address, adding: “If that works, all is fine. If not, you need evidence from last six years, eg council tax bills, P60s etc.”
He said, however, that employers could dispose of P60 forms after three years.
A Home Office spokesman said that about a fifth of applicants were asked for more documents during the scheme’s testing phase and said: “This case has not been refused. We would encourage the applicant to make contact with the settlement resolution centre, who will be able to assist him with his application. Over a quarter of a million EU citizens have already successfully been granted status under the EU settlement scheme . . . We are looking for ways to grant status and automatic checks against government data are making it simple for many people to apply successfully.”
There are more than 3.6 million EU citizens living in the UK.
The settled status scheme began last month and applicants have until June 30, 2021 to apply unless the UK leaves the EU with no deal, in which case the deadline is December 2020.