The application scheme for EU citizens to stay in the UK has been branded a “farce” with Scottish residents having to travel hundreds of miles to get documents approved.
The Home Office has unveiled a list of 50 locations across the UK where passports can be verified for those applying to stay after Brexit.
In addition to a centre which had already been set up in Edinburgh, the service has now been made available in three additional locations in Scotland.
Two are in East Ayrshire – Cumnock and Kilmarnock – and one in Livingston, West Lothian. There are none in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, or any other city apart from the capital.
Applicants can also use an app to check documents or the postal service but it only works on Android smartphones – even though nearly half of mobiles are iPhones.
Gail Ross, SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, said the entire process had been a “farce” which had needlessly worried the 220,000 EU citizens living in Scotland.
She said: “These additional centres will be of little help to communities across Scotland.
“There’s still no support in six out of seven cities, including our largest population centre, and the centres that do exist are clustered around the central belt – no use at all to communities in the Highlands, North East or Borders.”
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