EU referendum and Article 50: FAQs, comment and statements

I am a non-UK EU national. Do I need a visa to continue working at UCL?

Nothing has changed in relation to your immigration status or ability to work in the UK. If there were to be any changes to your ability to work in the UK in the future, we would not expect these to come into place until formal agreements have been reached in relation to issues such as freedom of movement. UCL is being supported by specialist immigration lawyers and will continue to provide additional support and information as the position becomes clearer.

I am a Norwegian, Icelandic, Liechtenstein or Swiss national, how am I affected?

As with EU nationals, there is no impact on your employment status as a result of the referendum.

Will I have to pay for medical care?

Nothing has changed in relation to your ability to receive NHS medical care in the UK. Again if there were to be any changes in the future relating to access to medical care, we would not expect these to come into place until formal agreements had been reached regarding the status of EU citizens in the UK.

What support services are available for employees?

UCL employees can access personal support from the University’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) on a confidential basis. Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year for staff.

Dignity at Work Advisers offer informal support for employees experiencing bullying and harassment in the workplace.

What should I do if I see or experience racism or harassment linked to the EU referendum result? 

UCL does not tolerate racism, xenophobia or harassment in the work place or in study. All staff are responsible for ensuring that they behave in an appropriate manner, showing respect for staff, students and others working alongside or engaged with the UCL community. All staff are encouraged to appropriately challenge inappropriate behaviours and raise concerns with managers so these can be dealt with. This note provides you with guidance on what you should do if you experience or witness racism, xenophobia or harassment.

For further support regarding racial and xenophobic harassment, please visit the Equalities & Diversity website.

Where can employees go for further information about visas and immigration?

UCL has held a series of immigration clinics for employees concerned about their immigration position. Staff can login to view FAQs and a video from the immigration clinics. 

You can also find information on the government website about residence and applying for British citizenship.

UCL HR will be able to provide general information via the following email address: eustaffqueries@ucl.ac.uk.

UCL will continue to assess what further support can be made available.

Will immigration advice be available to staff on an individual basis?

We are considering a number of different options at the moment. We are also waiting to see what the process will be post-Brexit. However, we are able to provide more immigration clinics for staff if that would be helpful. Please let us know if you would like to attend a clinic by e-mailing us at eustaffqueries@ucl.ac.uk.

Will UCL be providing any financial support for those who need help with immigration applications?

As the negotiations could take almost two years to complete, what the process might be for EU staff is very difficult to predict and we would want to avoid committing ourselves to any unnecessary expenditure at this time. The provision of financial support will, however, be kept under review.

Will PhD students be provided with the same level of support as existing staff members?

Yes. We are already providing that support across UCL. PhD students should access support from Student Support and Wellbeing in the first instance. Where necessary, further support can be obtained from Human Resources. 

What support is available to staff who are family members of EU citizens?

We are offering the same level of support and advice that is available to staff. If you require support but have not been contacted, you should contact Human Resources on eustaffqueries@ucl.ac.uk to register your details.

Has UCL considered the possible impact, after Brexit, of future student and staff reductions?

To ensure that we continue to retain and attract the best people, senior leaders at UCL have formed working groups that meet regularly to identify the impact on student and staff numbers post-Brexit. We are also campaigning to the government to ensure strategies are developed that enable us to secure the right talent and resources to continue to be a world-renowned university post-Brexit.

We have contributed to Education Select Committee hearings, highlighting the impact any immigration controls are likely to have on higher education institutions, and we are asking the government to protect current EU citizens.

What is the Brexit Mitigation Group doing now about student and staff retention?

The Brexit Mitigation Group is confident that we can mitigate the risks that we are facing. We are pushing very hard for a specific deal that supports EU citizens and an immigration system that encourages talent and allows strategies to be developed to meet that need.

Can I still apply for the Erasmus scheme?

UCL researchers can continue to apply for the Erasmus scheme, and our understanding is that there will be no change to the funding allocation process until a specific new agreement is reached.

Will my Horizon2020 or ERC grant be affected? Is it worth applying for new Horizon2020 or ERC grants?

The Treasury has guaranteed EU funding beyond the date UK leaves the EU, and advises that you should continue to bid for competitive EU funds while the UK remains a member of the EU.

See also UCL’s statement on Horizon 2020 and the EC’s official statement.

What is UCL doing to address any negative perception of the UK with our European partners?

We are working with many partners, including BIS, Research Councils UK, and LERU to minimise the risk that attitudes to UK post-referendum harm our participation in EU funding mechanisms.

What about long-term relationships beyond the conclusion of negotiations?

We will continue to support and champion growing and strengthening academic relations across Europe. We maintain a view that as the UK looks to find a new place in the global community, academic and research cooperation across Europe will remain an essential, and indeed ever-stronger, part of its global relationships. 

For a global university, ongoing rich cooperation with the excellent universities, institutes, hospitals and companies of Europe is a non-negotiable part of our long-term vision. 

We will continue to enable such cooperation, and are already assessing long-term options to respond to whatever framework emerges from negotiations, including partnerships with European universities and establishing physical research and innovation operations in Europe.

For further questions about immigration, see the ‘Employees’ above.