'Millions of EU nationals can stay in the UK after Brexit'

There are an estimated 3.6 million EU nationals living in the UK. Credit: Gareth Fuller PA Wire

All of the estimated 3.6 million EU nationals currently living in the UK will be allowed to stay after the country leaves the European Union, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

The Home Office has calculated that five in six of such migrants would be unable to be deported because they will have gained the right to stay permanently by the time negotiations are likely to be finalised in 2019/2020.

Once an EU resident has been in the EU for five years he or she is entitled to permanent residency rights.

The remaining 600,000 who will be ineligible to claim permanent residency rights are set to be offered an amnesty, the Telegraph said.

Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted that the status of EU nationals in the UK will depend on how the 1.2 million Britons in the rest of the bloc are treated after Brexit.

Mrs May has been criticised for refusing to guarantee the status of EU migrants in the UK and accused of treating them like "bargaining chips" in the Brexit "divorce" deal negotiations.

Mrs May has insisted that Brexit will see immigration controls imposed on new migrants.