UK vows simple registration for EU citizens after Brexit

European Union citizens living in Britain can begin registering from this autumn for a post-Brexit settlement scheme, ministers said today as they vowed to make the process as simple as possible.

Almost four million EU nationals currently live in Britain with no restrictions under the bloc's freedom of movement laws, but this will end with Brexit when they must apply for a new status.

Unveiling new details of the plan, interior minister Sajid Javid said applicants could use a new mobile phone app to register - although he admitted it did not yet work on Apple iPhones.

The process will be "as simple as people can reasonably expect", he told a House of Lords committee, "starting in the autumn".

Applicants will only have to prove their identity, that they live in Britain and that they have no serious criminal convictions -- there will be no minimum income requirement.

Javid said the expectation would be that everyone was eligible, saying: "We will not be looking for reasons, excuses, not to grant status."