Britain told EU citizens to trust its settled status system. Then it mixed up identical twins.
A woman granted U.K. settled status under the post-Brexit system was left stranded abroad after the Home Office misidentified her.
LONDON — An identical twin, Nidia Webb, found herself stranded at a foreign airport after the U.K. Brexit settlement scheme mistakenly linked her settled status to her identical sister's details. The error, a known issue with the Home Office's digital eVisa system, denied her boarding on a flight home from Spain. The Home Office acknowledged the problem and promised to resolve it, but mistakenly sent the confirmation email to her twin sister.
Webb, who has lived in the U.K. for eight years, had to pay for a new flight home out of her own pocket, a cost her travel insurer says she should seek reimbursement for. Monique Hawkins, CEO of the3million, says the eVisa system's digital-only approach has caused numerous issues for EU citizens, with many unable to prove their identity when needed.
Despite claims that the system is reliable, Hawkins warns that it can fail at crucial moments. The Home Office maintains that over 10 million people have successfully used eVisas, and that most errors are resolved quickly. However, the incident highlights ongoing challenges faced by identical twins and other individuals in the digitalized identity and border systems.
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