British citizens in Norway and Norwegian citizens in the UK will have the right to remain post-Brexit, their governments said today. Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, said: “Prime Minister May and I agreed that Norway and UK will put in place a comprehensive citizens rights’ agreement. We will treat all UK citizens living in Norway … so they will have the same opportunities as they had before also after March 2019.” May, who is currently visiting Oslo, said: “Whatever happens, we confirm that people from the EEA, the Norwegian citizens and those others who are living in the UK, and who have made their life choice to be in the UK, well, to be able to be in the UK. We want them to stay.” Norway is outside of the EU, but retains single market access through its membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) and free movement zone. The UK government is also negotiating citizen rights agreements with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland separately. Solberg added that Britain and Norway were “very close” on agreeing a deal that would mirror any Brexit deal concluded with the EU. A draft agreement between the UK and EU was published in March, outlining that EU nationals can continue to work and settle in the UK until the end of 2020, and likewise for British nationals living and working in Europe. In September, May added that these rights would be guaranteed for EU nationals in the UK even in the case of a no-deal Brexit. An EU Settlement Scheme was announced in June, enabling the roughly 3m EU residents in the UK to apply for “settled status” until the end of June 2021. This will give them the right to continue living in the UK after December 2020. The scheme has been trialled and is expected to be in full operation from March 2019. However, there is no current agreement on the rights of EU nationals to settle and work in the UK after June 2021.
The governments of the UK and of Norway have agreed to give their citizens the right to remain in one another's countries post-Brexit. Meanwhile, the UK is attempting to negotiate similar agreements with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland separately.