EU Settlement Scheme documentation for married women

Early day motion 1602, tabled 8 March 2021 by Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party). Signed by 18 members.

That this House is aware EU Settlement Scheme paperwork has been issued to married women showing names they do not currently use; understands that when processing EU Settlement Scheme documentation the Home Office takes information only from the machine readable zone of an applicant’s passport; notes that passports from many EU countries list both the maiden and married name for married women, and that only the former shows up in the machine readable zone; recognises that discord in the names shown on different forms of documentation may cause complications for affected women when proving their right to live and work in the UK, causing unnecessary barriers when applying for jobs, renting, setting up bank accounts or applying for social security; deplores the cultural insensitivity shown to European women who retain their maiden names on their passports after marriage; and calls on the Home Office to amend married women’s settled status documentation to allow information to match the name used on other forms of identification and in their day to day lives.

Signatures by party: Scottish National Party 11, Plaid Cymru 3, DUP 1, Green 1, Labour 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.