Bulgarian and Romanian citizens are free to live and work in the UK from today after transitional controls in place since 2007 expired.
In a press release, the Home Office said from today, Romanian and Bulgarian nationals have the same access to the labour market as any other European Economic Area (EEA) national (apart from those from Croatia who require worker authorisation).
The Home Office adds that those from Romania and Bulgaria can only stay in the UK for more than 3 months if they are exercising treaty rights as a worker, student, self employed or self sufficient person. Those not working or seeking work must be able to support themselves and their families and must have comprehensive medical insurance.
For more information on exercising treaty rights, see the Bulgarian and Romanian nationals section of the Home Office website.
According to BBC News, the UK has not released forecasts of migrant numbers but campaigners say up to 50,000 people a year could come.
The Guardian website led today with an article noting that an alliance of Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs has warned that some politicians are inflaming community tensions with anti-Roma rhetoric as Britain opens its borders to Bulgarian and Romanian workers.
In one article on the Daily Mail website, the Conservative leader of Westminster City Council, Philippa Roe, was reported as saying that some members of the Roma community have already been causing trouble in Central London with their aggressive and unhygienic behaviour.