An Italian restaurant owner who has lived and worked in Settle for 25 years is battling to be let back in the country after being stopped at the airport in September ...


https://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/25688152.friends-settle-restaurant-owner-rally-round-get-home/

Typical tabloid press, omitting vital information in article so to create more drama article.
Article is written by incompetent intern. It refers to ETA, which is new entry clearance system, instead of mentioning EU Settlement Scheme in UK.
He missed deadline for EU Settlement Scheme in 2021, not ETA! ETA came in force for EU nationals in 2025!
Should have hired solicitor to fix that, but I guess he ignored issue. Then decided to travel abroad and now cant come back in. Surprise, surprise.
Not a sharpest tool in the shed!

He must have travelled to Spain with an Italian passport. Why cant he reenter the UK as a tourist?

Because he overstayed 25y!

Can you show your workings-out on that figure?

You are right about the ETA/UK settlement scheme thing. The paper did get this wrong.

But I don't think that is necessarily the fault of the person in question. He didn't ignore the issue...he was unaware of it. Once he became aware of it he did the right thing, which was to follow the appeals process, but that appeals process is more difficult when you are outside the UK. His appeal was turned down because he did not fit into the right bureaucratic box. He had not overstayed for 25 years. He came here legally as a 10 year old with his parents. He lived and worked and paid taxes and followed alll the rules and made a positive contribution to a community for 25 years...and then he made one mistake with his paperwork (during a time when he, and the entire system, was under great pressure). He now has a group of people from his community that support him and, as you have said, they are getting a solicitor to help him. That will of course cost money, and since he is now unable to continue his business which he had previously been running for many years in that community, he needs to find the money from somewhere. The people that support him are raising money to fight the appeals decision.

Even if he eventually wins is that a success (a 'bonus') for Brexit? That a person who grows up in a country and makes a life there can be denied that life because of a technical breach in their paperwork, which creates more bureaucrats to administer the (Settlement) scheme, and then lines the pockets of lawyers and solicitors who are needed just to allow people to continue living their lives?

You say that you think he is "not the sharpest tool in the shed" - I don't know him personally...but I have a question for you: Does intelligence matter? Are you saying that there should be some form of IQ test that establishes the right for a person to legally remain in a country? Would it be ok for all the countries to insist that all British Expats do an IQ test? Maybe it would be okay for countries to do that every few years and deport some of the oldies as their faculties diminish?

Its seems very hard on the man in question. There might be more to it than mentioned in the news article. It reads more like a story of Italy bureaucracy.

Whilst it's true that there could be more to it, I do find it entirely credible for two reasons.

Firstly, I've read enough horror stories about individuals caught up in dealings with the Home Office, either from the horses' mouths or from professionals in the field.

And secondly, the path the UK chose regarding residence rights after Brexit is entirely consistent with this sort of scenario. In brief, the UK and EU member states had a choice of which of 2 regimes to apply, one of which bestowed rights automatically on affected citizens, and the other of which necessitated the applying for and acquisition of a new status. The UK and around half of EU member states chose the latter option, and accordingly imposed a deadline date after which no further applications would be permitted (except in rare and specifically allowable circumstances). Failure to acquire a new status by the deadline rendered the individual not legally resident.

As the article notes, Mr D'Ali failed to apply for a new status by the deadline of June 30th 2021 and although he made a late application, it was rejected without any right of appeal (presumably just by reason of the lateness of the application not being on justifiable grounds, however they might have been defined). From then, he's no longer legally resident.

Under which circumstances, it does seem more than a bit naïve of him to have left the country for however short a period, as he was bound to get the third degree on re-entry. Perhaps he thought "Well I've lived there practically all my life, I own a business, emply people, pay tax etc etc - of course they won't refuse me entry", or something. Or perhaps he didn't think anything at all (although he was aware of the requirement and that he'd failed to comply).

Had the UK chosen the other regime, which applies in eg Portugal & Italy, he would still be OK to get his documentation in order, provided he could demonstrate that he was eligible. He can't now do that in the UK unless he can find some other immigration status for which he qualifies.

Agreed. And I read comments on my (new) local Facebook groups from people saying "Ah well, it's a result of leaving the EU. It's totally fair, because British people in the EU are being treated the same way. I have no sympathy with him. Etc." (or words to that effect). I replied to those people saying that this is not true, because it was a UK government decision to do things this way ...and used the example of Italy choosing not to do this to Brits living there. Unfortunately there were also a lot of really quite xenophobic comments along the lines of "He will just come back on a small boat like all the other illegals" (using precisely those words).

On reflection maybe I should have posted this elsewhere in this forum. But it struck a chord with me because of the experience of living in Italy, trying to follow all the rules and failing to do so. And so I was making a comparison between the two countries. Sadly it's probably something that will go on for decades (in many different countries)...bit like the Windrush scandal.

Simple. Article says he lived in UK for 25y. He never register his residence, even though initial was not compulsory. Immigration database had no records of any of his legal residence, therefore technically when he was denied entry he was long term overstayed.

Hmm, you say its not his fault. Whose fault is then, UK?
Ignorance is bliss and never an excuse. UK leaving EU was in media for years, so only blind and def could miss it.
No idea where you get this IQ thing from. I dont need to know him personally, his inaction's speak for them self.

Article says he lived in UK for 40y.

You and I have no idea whether he ever registered his residence but as you say, it wasn't ever a requirement until after the transition period and the EU Citizen settled / pre-settled status registration process deadline had passed. Even people who had registered as resident EU citizens prior to Brexit and had certificates to prove it had to acquire the new status or be considered not legally resident.

The Private Life Visa takes 12months to process and costs £1000. His carelessness has proved quite costly.
Since he was able to obtain an Italian passport he cannot have been totally out of touch with things.

I didn't say it wasn't his fault. I said "not necessarily". And, yes, it's very much the result of a choice by the UK to make the system operate in this way. Who else made that choice if not the UK? What you have said about residency preBrexit id just plain wrong. It was more confusing than you suggest. Don't take my word for it. Here's evidence:It was a change of policy and it's probably caught quite a few people out. But maybe like this particular guy the systems haven't yet caught up with the changes, and once the digital passport checks are in place more people will find themselves in similar situations.

You referred to him as "not the sharpest tool in the shed" so it's pretty obvious "this IQ thing" was brought into the conversation by you. But if you don't have the courage to actually stand by what you said, fair enough.

I have to invoke old saying "piss or get off the pot". It's either his or someone else's fault. It's clearly his fault as he's adult and responsible for his actions/inactions.
So, dont muck around with "not necessarily". It's either his fault or not, make up your mind.

He could have easily got solicitor and applied for residence under another immigration law, that gives residence to anyone after 10y of living in UK, subject to no criminal convictions.
Who/when/what changed polices is all irrelevant talk. It's up to residents to keep up with laws, just like we have to keep up every year with constantly changing taxes.

Ha ha courage? You challenge my courage? Do I sense gun duel is coming up next. I naively thought dueling and witch-hunting were medieval thing of past.