Jrgen is a German national who moved to the UK in October 2020 to work for a bank. He applied for, and was granted, pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme in May 2021. After a while, he decided that working in a bank was not for him and that his real calling was to be an interior decorator. He gave up his job in August 2022 in order to start a six-month training course in interior decoration. On the course, he met Beate, a fellow German nationalwho had just moved to London on a student visa to take the training course. They were married just after they both successfully completed the course in January 2023. Since then, the couple have set up a business in interior decoration but have struggled to make ends meet. They only had two clients from which they derived an income of 1800 for the whole of 2023. With their savings dwindling, Jrgen has applied for universal credit, a social assistance benefit, but the UK Department for Work and Pensions takes the view that he should be regarded as economically inactive and that the UK is under no obligation under the Withdrawal Agreement to provide him with social assistance. Beate has also received a letter from the Home Office telling her that she has no right of residence in the UK and that she will be deported if she does not voluntarily leave the country within one month.

Advise Jrgen and Beate of any rights they might have under the Withdrawal Agreement with respect to entitlement to residence and access to social assistance in the UK.