An Italian man has been removed from the UK despite holding a Home Office certificate explicitly stating he has a right to travel in and out of the country while officials process his application to live and work in the country post-Brexit.
Massimiliano Melargo, 27, told how he was detained overnight, separated from his Ukrainian partner, and put on the first plane to Venice by Border Force officials in a step lawyers say contravenes the withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK.
“I don’t feel great because I am away from my girlfriend, I have lost my job and I’m going to lose the deposit on my flat,” said Melargo.
He had left the country for a birthday holiday break in Finland and was originally told he would be removed to Helsinki when he was stopped at Gatwick.
He said he feared he could not come back to pick up his belongings or to visit his girlfriend of five years, or his sister, who has been in the country for 12 years.
“I feel that even If I go there to visit I will have problems. It’s very disappointing. It’s going to be difficult to come back even as a tourist,” he said.
“My detention and then removal is causing me and my partner immense distress and hardship.
“I am a law-abiding, upstanding good citizen, certainly not deserving of the treatment I was given by being detained and treated like a delinquent and removed. I am contributing fully to the country’s economy and society,” he added.
Melargo had lived in the UK before Brexit and had made a late application to remain in the country using the Brexit EU settlement scheme set up for the millions of EU citizens living in the country before the UK withdrew from the bloc in 2021.
The hospitality worker had left the country before Brexit and intended to return before the end of 2020 to secure his rights, but was unable to because of lockdowns and Covid-related travel bans.
He returned to the UK after Brexit and submitted a late application for the EU settlement scheme in January 2023. This was rejected but he immediate appealed.
He said he believed he was “unlawfully removed” because the Home Office Certification of Application (CoA), which notifies a future employer or landlord of a person’s right to work and rent property while awaiting a decision, states he can travel.
It says: “Your certificate of application allows you to travel in and out of the UK pending a final decision on your application, including during any appeal.”
Confusingly, it also advises against travel in and out of the country, and on a previous occasion when Merlago returned from holiday he was not stopped.
It appears the border officials relied on a paragraph in the CoA which states that someone “may also be asked for evidence to show that you were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020”, such as a national insurance or HMRC record.
Luke Piper, a lawyer with the Work Rights Centre and an EU settlement scheme specialist, said the rights of EU citizens were guaranteed under the withdrawal agreement, including during an application process.
“The Home Office appears to be overstepping its powers and allowing Border Force to pre-judge the case before the appeal has been concluded. These appeals should be reviewed, processed and concluded before there can be a decision on entry to the country by Border Force.
“What happens at the border appears to be down to the officer who sees you on the day. The whole point of the certificate of application is to demonstrate that you are in an application process that has not been concluded. Confusingly it tells recipients they can travel but also says they shouldn’t. It’s Kafkaesque.”
In response, the Home Office suggested it was key for all those travelling with a CoA to also carry proof of living in the country before Brexit.
A spokesperson said: “A Certificate of Application issued under the EU settlement scheme advises the holder that, if they travel overseas, they may be asked for evidence that they qualify under the scheme in order to re-enter the UK.
“Border Force officers may stop any arriving passenger for the purposes of further examination where they are not immediately satisfied that they qualify for entry.”
