Who has the power to help

When an institution gets your rights wrong, the question that matters is not "who is sympathetic?" but "who has the power to fix this?" This page is organised the way people actually search: by problem. Under each problem is the route — the body with real teeth — and the directory of organisations follows below. Two rules of thumb apply to everything: complain to the institution itself first (its own complaints process creates the paper trail), and if the wrongdoer is a public body and you hold Withdrawal Agreement rights, tell the IMA as well — individual complaints are the fuel for its inquiries and court cases.

"My status is the problem" — EUSS delays, wrong decisions, eVisa failures

• Application stuck, status not showing, share code failing, automatic upgrade questions → the EUSS Resolution Centre (Home Office), 0300 123 7379.
• Refused, or a late application → get regulated advice fast: Settled (free, many languages) or an IAA-regulated adviser.
• Status wrongly removed or curtailed → you should get 28 days to respond; use them with an adviser, and tell the IMA.

"Refused a job — or mistreated at work — because of my status"

• Employer refuses a valid share code or demands a non-existent "physical permit" → point them to the Home Office right-to-work guidance; nationality-based refusals can be unlawful discrimination.
• Any workplace dispute → Acas first (0300 123 1100): free conciliation, and a required step before most employment tribunal claims. Strict deadlines apply — usually 3 months less a day.
• Discrimination advice → Equality Advisory and Support Service, 0808 800 0082.

"Refused a tenancy"

• Letting agent at fault → complain to the agent, then to their redress scheme (Property Ombudsman or PRS) — free, binding on the agent.
• Blanket "no digital status" or nationality-based refusals → can be unlawful discrimination; law centres and Shelter (0808 800 4444) advise free.

"Benefit denied"

• Step one, always: request a mandatory reconsideration (in writing, within one month), then appeal to the independent tribunal. Most EU-citizen refusals turn on the right-to-reside rules — and advisers win these regularly. See the AT case on Money & benefits: even the Supreme Court has now confirmed destitute pre-settled status holders cannot simply be refused.
• Free help with the paperwork → Citizens Advice, your law centre, or the Work Rights Centre.
• A public body ignoring Withdrawal Agreement rights → also tell the IMA.

"Wrongly charged by the NHS"

• Do not just pay. Ask the trust's Overseas Visitor Team, in writing, to reassess — people with settled or pre-settled status living in the UK are ordinarily resident and entitled to free hospital care.
• Escalate via the hospital's complaints process (ask PALS for help), then the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
• Withdrawal Agreement rights engaged → tell the IMA; wrongful NHS charging of EUSS holders is squarely its territory.

"Can't get my data"

• Make (or chase) your Subject Access Request — free, one-month deadline.
• Ignored or refused without reason → the organisation's complaints process, then the ICO (0303 123 1113), which can order compliance and fine.

"Removed from the electoral register"

• Contact your council's electoral services team — registration is their legal duty, and the retained-rights rules (explained here) are frequently misapplied.
• Unresolved → the Electoral Commission publishes the definitive guidance to point to.

"A council or government department got it wrong" (and it isn't benefits)

• Complain to the body itself, then to the relevant ombudsman: Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (councils, England) or the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (government departments — approach via your MP).
• Your MP can intervene directly with the Home Office and DWP, and often does: find your MP.
• And if Withdrawal Agreement rights are involved: the IMA.

The directory: who does what

Everything below is free unless marked otherwise. Giving immigration advice in the UK is a regulated activity — only advisers regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, or lawyers, may advise on your individual case.