Help us defend EU citizens’ right to return home to the UK
the3million is ready to take the government to court to protect the right of EU citizens to be able to come back home to the UK while their immigration status is being decided.
SUPPORT THE CASE ON CROWDJUSTICE
The problem
Millions of EU citizens made the UK their home before Brexit - working, studying, raising families and contributing to communities. Under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), we were told our rights would be protected.
But today, that promise is being broken.
Right now, almost 50,000 people are stuck in limbo - waiting, often for months or even years, for the Home Office to decide their EUSS applications. Over 9,000 of them had been waiting for more than four years for a decision. And almost 28,000 others are still waiting - often for years - for the outcome of a review of their EUSS decision.
And if they leave the UK while waiting - even briefly, for a family emergency, a funeral, or work - they risk being refused re-entry while their case is still being processed.
They are effectively trapped. Unable to travel, afraid to leave, living in uncertainty over their future.
One person waiting for the last three years told us:
“I lost a parent last year and I was unable to pay my respects to them because I could not leave the country until the decision was made. No one should have to make the choice between their life in the UK and their family.”
This is not an isolated story. The statistics represent thousands of lives disrupted by unnecessary delays and unfair rules.
This is clearly wrong and unfair, and we believe it is unlawful.
Our legal challenge
We are launching a legal action to establish, once and for all, that EU citizens with a pending EUSS application are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and have the right to travel and return to the UK while their application is being decided by the Home Office, with no additional proof being required of them by Border Control.
We are working with leading lawyers from the Public Law Project to bring this case before the courts - but we need your help to make it happen.
Why we need your support
Taking the government to court is expensive, but justice must not depend on wealth or privilege.
As a not-for-profit organisation, the3million does not have resources dedicated to cover these costs, so we are reaching out to you to support this case.
Your donations will go directly towards our own lawyers' fees, the costs risk associated with bringing litigation and court fees.
If we win and the government covers our legal costs, then any unused funds will go towards the3million’s crucial work campaigning for migrants’ rights. The same would also apply for any unused funds in the event the case could not proceed.
We will be seeking a cost capping order to limit our exposure to pay the government’s costs if we are unsuccessful and we are also grateful to the Law for Change Fund for providing us with an indemnity towards the government’s costs. If we lose, your contributions will help cover the costs of our own lawyers (whose fees will be discounted) and any of the government’s legal costs that go beyond what is covered by the Law for Change indemnity.
Every contribution, large or small, helps us fight for the rights of thousands trapped in limbo.
Stand with us
This case isn’t just about the right to travel. It’s about fairness, family, and keeping the promises made to millions of us who built their lives here in good faith.
⚖️ We have the law on our side. Now we need the resources to fight.
Join us. Donate today. Share this campaign. Help us defend the rights of EU citizens and uphold the rule of law in the UK.
