Theresa May has said she wants EU citizens living in the UK to stay after Brexit as she announced plans designed to put their “anxiety to rest”.

All EU nationals living in the UK lawfully for at least five years will be granted “settled status” and be able to bring over spouses and children.

Those who come after an as-yet-agreed cut-off point will be given two years to “regularise their status”.

Jeremy Corbyn said the offer was “not generous” and “too little, too late”.

Labour said the UK should have made a unilateral guarantee of security to EU citizens in the aftermath of last year’s Brexit vote.

A 15-page document outlining the detail of the UK’s offer to EU citizens has been published as Theresa May addresses MPs on the outcome of Friday’s EU summit – at which she first set out her plans.

• Politics Live: Rolling text and video updates
• What is UK offering EU citizens?
• Brexit: All you need to know
• Brexit: What is at stake in EU-UK talks?

She told the Commons that she wanted to give reassurance and certainty to the 3.2 million EU citizens in the UK – as well as citizens of the three EEA countries and Switzerland – who she said were an “integral part of the economic and cultural fabric” of the UK.

But she said any deal on their future legal status and rights must be reciprocal and also give certainty to the 1.2 million British expats living on the continent after the UK leaves the EU – expected to be on 29 March 2019.

The key points of the UK’s proposals are:

• Those granted settled status will be able to live, work, study and claim benefits just as they can now
• The cut-off date for eligibility will be between 29 March 2017 and 29 March 2019
• EU nationals in the UK for less than five years at the specified date will be able to continue living and working in the UK
• They will be able to apply for temporary residency after a “grace period” – expected to be two years – has elapsed
• Once here for five years, they can apply for settled status
• Family members of EU citizens living abroad will be able to return and apply for settled status
• A period of “blanket residence permission” may apply to give officials time to process applications to stay in the UK
• The Home Office will no longer require evidence that EU citizens who weren’t working held “comprehensive sickness insurance”

Under the plan, all those with five years of continuous residence in the UK would be able to apply for “settled status” and could expect roughly the same benefits, in terms of access to pensions, welfare and healthcare, as UK citizens.

Mrs May said the application process would be simplified and a “light touch” approach adopted. The existing application process for permanent residency involves filling out a 85-page form and has been widely criticised.

“Under these plans, no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave at the point the UK leaves the EU,” Mrs May said.

She told MPs that those granted settled status, equivalent to having indefinite leave to remain, would be “treated as if they were UK citizens for healthcare, benefits and pensions”.

Huge challenge

By BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw

Officials anticipate that the process of administering “settled status” will be a huge challenge, with some 3.2 million potential applications.

Those EU nationals who’ve been assigned residency cards already will have to apply again under the new system, though the process for them is expected to be “streamlined”.

It’s thought applications for settled status will start to be processed from mid-2018.

Officials say they intend to put in place a new, online, simplified system – but say they are used to dealing with large volumes of applications – 2.5 million visas each year and seven million passports.

Criminal record checks will be carried out on those who apply for settled status, just as they are now for those who apply for residency cards.

Mrs May said spouses, children and other family members currently living outside the UK would be able to return and apply for settled status on the same basis as the dependents of British citizens.

Pressed by several Labour MPs, she suggested there would be no income barriers for those whose relatives have been here for more than five years.

“There will be no extra requirements,” she said. “We are not talking about splitting up families.”

She also insisted the UK should police the new rules rather than the European Court of Justice.

But Mr Corbyn said the question of citizens’ rights should have been dealt with in isolation rather than being dragged into the “delicate and complex” matrix of trade and other Brexit-related issues now being discussed.

“The prime minister went to Brussels last week to make what she described as a generous offer to EU nationals in this country,” he said.

“The truth is it is too little, too late. That could have been done and should have been done a year ago when Labour put that very proposal to the House of Commons. This isn’t a generous offer. This is confirmation the government is prepared to use people as bargaining chips.”

And the SNP’s Ian Blackford said there were still “more questions than answers” about how EU citizens living in Scotland would be affected.

Are you an EU citizen living in the UK? Or a British citizen living in an EU country? What is your reaction to the announcement? Share your views and experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

• WhatsApp: +447555 173285
• Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
• Send pictures/video to yourpics@bbc.co.uk
• Upload your pictures / video here
• Send an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100