Sturgeon to urge EU citizens to stay in Scotland after Brexit

Nicola Sturgeon with French European Affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau Image copyright French government

Efforts to encourage EU citizens to stay in Scotland after Brexit are to be stepped up, Nicola Sturgeon is to tell members of the French parliament.

The Scottish first minister is to address a committee of the Assemblée Nationale during a visit to Paris.

She said she would "always make it clear that EU citizens are welcome".

The Home Office is currently testing an application system for settled status in the UK, which it said 100,000 people had successfully taken part in so far.

In January, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that fees for EU nationals to apply to stay in the UK after Brexit had been scrapped - although Ms Sturgeon said this was only after lobbying from other parties.

The first minister began a two-day visit to France on Monday, with a meeting with French European Affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau.

She is to address members of the Assemblée Nationale, the lower house of the French Parliament, after opening a new Scottish government office in Paris.

Ms Sturgeon will tell the foreign affairs committee that her government "will always stick up for" the EU citizens living in Scotland, who include 7,000 French people.

She will say: "In recent months we have lobbied successfully to ensure EU citizens would not have to pay a fee to obtain settled status in the UK. And we will always make it clear that EU citizens are welcome.

"In fact in the coming months, we plan to step up our efforts to encourage EU citizens to stay in Scotland."

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Media captionKarin has spent 35 years living in Scotland but worries about signing up for Settled Status

Under current legislation, the UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March, whether an exit deal is agreed or not.

In January, Mrs May told MPs that her government was "committed to ensuring that EU citizens in the UK will be able to stay and continue to access in-country benefits and services on broadly the same terms as now, in both a deal and a no-deal scenario".

The Home Office is currently developing the system for EU citizens to get "settled status", allowing them to continue to live and work in the UK after Brexit.

This is due to be fully open by 30 March, but officials said 100,000 people had already successfully taken part voluntarily during the pilot phase of the system.

A spokeswoman said the department had "invested heavily" in the scheme, with a dedicated mobile app developed and 1,500 caseworkers recruited.