The government is preparing to announce plans next Monday which will invite EU citizens currently living in the UK to register their interest in applying for permanent residency status post-Brexit.
Applying for residency currently requires individuals to obtain and fill out enormous amounts of paper work in a process which is time consuming for both the applicants and the government. It is hoped that the proposal will outline a more efficient process and gauge how much interest there is to acquire the legal documentation.
The statement comes after concerns about a surge in the number of applicants as the UK departure from the European Union gets closer and this initiative is likely to form the first step in the process of becoming a legal resident.
There has been some fear that the numbers of people who will formally register may be low as a result of a lack of trust in the UK government and people simply not bothering if it is an overly complex procedure.
The rights of EU citizens remain unchanged whilst the UK remains within the Union.