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EU citizens living in the UK will need to apply for the Settled Status to continue living in the UK after June 2021.
All the details of the EU Settled Status in this guide are still subject to the parliamentary approval in the UK.
Follow this guide to learn more about the settled status application process, requirements, and how we can assist with your application.
The UK government has unveiled details about the proposed EU Settlement Scheme, a system introduced for the EU citizens and their family members to obtain UK immigration status. The immigration scheme suggests a framework to secure the rights of EU citizens living in the UK following Brexit.
Details for the EU settlement scheme were recently published by the Home Office following the draft withdrawal agreement with the European Union regarding the rights of EU citizens living in the UK. The scheme promises to guarantee the same rights to work, study, benefits and public services as of pre-Brexit to all the EU citizens living in the UK and their family members.
Although the detailed design is yet to be laid before the parliament for approval, the scheme is planned to roll out in phases later this year before opening up fully by 30 March 2019. The deadline for applications under the scheme has been stated as 30 June 2021.
Publishing a long document titled “statement of intent”, the Home Office revealed details of the scheme that proposes a settlement scheme application process for the EU citizens to apply for a new UK immigration status.
Under the draft immigration rules of the scheme, all the EU citizens will have to apply for the “Settled Status” to continue living in the UK after June 2021. The scheme applies to all EU citizens including those that have already gained indefinite leave to remain or permanent residence.
For the EU citizens to be eligible under the scheme for settled status, they should have been living in the UK continuously for 5 years by 31 December 2020. Those that can’t fulfil the criteria of continuous residence of 5 years by that date will be granted “pre-settled status”. They will then be able to make a free second application for the settled status after they have fulfilled the 5-year criteria.
The scheme proposes a simple 3 steps framework for the settlement application process. EU citizens will need to i) prove their identity, ii) show that they live in the UK, and iii) declare that they have no serious criminal convictions.
The application form will be available online with additional support available over the phone or in person for those who require it. A contact centre with 1,500 staff including caseworkers to answer the queries of EU applicants and provide them with customer support will be opened as part of the plan.
Subject to approval by the UK Parliament, it will cost £65 (16 or over) and reduced fees of £32.50 (under 16) to make an application for the status. However, EU citizens with valid ILR or PR documents will be able to exchange it for the settled status without any application fees. The scheme proposes sufficient time (until 30 June 2021) for the EU citizens and their family members to apply for their UK immigration status further assuring to maintain their current rights under EU law until 31 December 2020.
Planned for a phased roll-out from late 2018 and to open fully by 30 March 2019, the scheme is designed to enable EU citizens in the UK and their family members to continue living in the UK permanently following Brexit.
The Home Office estimates around 3.2 million to 3.8 million EU citizens living in the UK to be eligible for this scheme.
Settled Status is part of a settlement scheme by the UK government for EU citizens living in the UK following Brexit.
The application process for the Settled Status is expected to roll out in phases starting with late 2018. The applications will be fully open by 30 March 2019.
The deadline for Settled Status applications is 30 June 2021. Here’s an overview of the proposed timeline for settled and pre-settled status.
The scheme is yet to be finalised for EEA citizens including those of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
All EU citizens including those that already have permanent residence document will need to apply for the settled status under new regulations. Getting settled status as an EU citizen living in the UK will allow you to access public services, public funds and pensions.
EU citizens will also need to apply for the settled status to meet the requirements for the British citizenship application.
All the requirements for the Settled Status are categorised into three main categories. The major eligibility criteria are based on whether you have lived in the UK for 5 years and so meet the following requirements;
If you can’t meet the 5 years requirement, you can still apply for the ‘pre-settled status’ and apply it for settled status once you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years.
The ‘pre-settled status’ will let you live in the UK for a further five years with the same rights to work and access to public funds/services as of now.
EEA nationals can apply for permanent residence status once they have lived in the UK for five years as a qualified person.
Applying for any document to live in the UK is currently optional for an EEA or Swiss national unless they want to apply for British citizenship or need to sponsor their partner’s visa application.
UK Visas and Immigration has mentioned that new scheme will be available for EU citizens to apply to stay in the UK after it leaves the EU.
Although the application is currently optional for EU citizens, the document certifying permanent residence can be good evidence of the right to live and work in the UK after Brexit takes effect.
Nonetheless, the permanent residence document is required if as an EEA national you need to apply for British citizenship having lived in the UK for 6 years or sponsor your non-EEA family members or an extended family member
You will need to submit evidence of living in the UK for the past five years as a qualified person in accordance with the EEA rules.
Nationals of EEA including Switzerland are considered a qualified person in the UK if they have been working, studying, self-employed, self-sufficient, or looking for work.
All EU nationals have the right to reside in the UK for three months. After that period, only a “qualified person” is entitled to reside in the United Kingdom for so long as he remains a qualified person. You need to be one of the following to meet the requirements as a “Qualified person”.
There is an additional requirement for students and self-sufficient applicants to hold comprehensive sickness insurance (CSI). This requirement can be met by showing either a document confirming comprehensive medical insurance for the applicant and family members (where relevant) or a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which is issued by an EEA member state other than the UK
Family members of EU national with the right to reside in the UK also have the right to reside here. This includes family members who are not themselves EU nationals.
After five years continuous leave under European free movement law a migrant (either an EEA national or their non-EEA family member) may – with some exceptions – qualify for permanent residence under European law.
“Permanent residence” has the same meaning as “Indefinite leave to remain”, and the legal effect is the same.
Migrants who qualify for EEA Permanent Residence can apply to the Home Office for the document. In some cases, the EEA national and their non-EEA family member(s) can make a joint application.
There is no legal requirement for this document, but it can be very useful for non-EEA family members in proving their immigration status, especially when they have left the UK and are trying to re-enter. It can also be helpful, both for EEA nationals and their non-EEA family members, if they wish to apply for British citizenship.
After the legal amendments in November 2015, it is no longer possible for EEA nationals to apply directly for British Citizenship. In most cases, any EEA national or family member of an EEA national who wishes to apply for British Citizenship must hold a document certifying Permanent Residence for at least 12 months prior to the application.
Non EEA nationals living in the UK as a family member of EEA national exercising the treaty rights can apply for the EEA Residence Card.
The application for EEA residence card can be made if you are already in the UK. If you are applying from outside the UK to join your EEA national family member, you should instead apply for an EEA family permit.
EEA Residence Card applications are currently optional for family members of an EEA or Swiss national but it can be helpful to prove rights for employment and qualify for certain benefits and services in the UK.
The EEA Residence Card applications are however compulsory for extended family members of EEA or Swiss nationals.
A non-EEA family member of an EEA national exercising Treaty rights in the UK may be able to apply for an EEA Residence Card if they are already in the UK. They might have originally come to the UK on an EEA Family Permit or on some other kind of visa. The application can be made even if the applicant’s visa has expired.
You can apply for an EEA Residence Card if you are a family member or an extended family member of an EEA national. Family members include:
Extended family members are unmarried partners in a “durable” relationship with an EEA national or other relative of EEA national or their spouse/civil partner that satisfy a number of additional conditions. While there is no definition of “durable” relationship in the Regulations, Home Office implements their own guidance to assess whether the relationship is “durable”, which must be shown through a cohabitation of at least 2 years. Since EEA Regulations 2016 have been introduced in February 2017, there is no longer a right for appeal for extended family members. EEA Regulations 2016 introduced another important change to the appeal rights. New regulations will restrict the right to appeal for EEA applications where the Home Office considers that the marriage is one of convenience.
Non-EEA family members who then wish to appeal that decision will have to leave the UK and lodge an appeal from overseas. Considering that appeals can take up to 15 months to be heard, this change could be quite significant for genuine applicants whose applications were incorrectly refused.
There is not an absolute legal requirement for a qualifying non-EEA family member to hold an EEA Residence Card but it can be very useful for proving their immigration status, especially when they have left the UK and are attempting to re-enter or to prove to employers their right to work in the UK.
An EEA Residence Card is granted for a period of five years and the visa holder is entitled to work in the UK.
To be eligible for UK residence card, the applicant should fulfil the following criteria;
Applicant should be from outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
Applicant should be a family member, or extended family member of a permanent or qualified EEA national
Some applicants are also eligible for UK residence card application based on their retained rights of residence status or can apply using Surinder Singh route.
A non-EEA family member of an EEA national may be able to apply outside the UK for an EEA Family Permit to join their EEA family member in the UK if their EEA family member is exercising Treaty rights.
Or they may be able to apply to come to the UK with their EEA family member if their EEA family member is coming to the UK for the purpose of exercising Treaty rights.
There is no requirement to apply for an EEA Family Permit to enter the UK, it can, for example, be issued at the UK border.
However, applying for Family Permit in advance will simplify entry and avoid the conflict with the airline, where they may not allow a passenger to board the plane in the absence of a valid visa.
An EEA Family Permit is granted for a period of six months and the visa holder is entitled to work in the UK.
After arriving in the UK, a non-EEA national family member will have to prepare and submit the application for an EEA Residence Card, which will be issued for a period of 5 years.
After 5 years the person may be eligible to apply for Permanent Residence in the UK.
A primary carer (ie a person who is the main or only carer for somebody) and the person who is cared for may be able, under some circumstances, to acquire leave under European law under the principle of “derivative rights”. The carer must be a close relative or legal guardian of the person who is cared for.
This is a complex area of law and it covers people in various different situations.
For example, a non-EEA national marries an EEA national and they have a child together in the UK. The marriage subsequently breaks down and the EEA national leaves the UK and the non-EEA national is left as the primary carer of the child. In this situation, both the child and the non-EEA national might be able to acquire leave in the UK under European law under derivative rights principles.
Another example could be where a non-EEA national marries a British citizen and they have a child together in the UK, and the child is thus a British citizen. The marriage subsequently breaks down, the British parent disappears, and the non-EEA national is left as the primary carer of the child.
The non-EEA national might be able to acquire leave under European law derivative rights principles if they could show that there would be nobody else in the UK to look after the child, and so the child would not be able to continue to live in the UK if the non-EEA national had to leave the UK.
There are also circumstances where derivative rights can be acquired when a primary carer cares for an adult.
Unlike other kinds of leave under European law, leave under derivative rights does not contribute towards leave for permanent residence, and migrants with such leave are not able to bring other dependants into the UK.
Generally speaking, free movement European immigration rights only come about when an EEA national crosses a border into another EEA country.
So, for example, a British citizen living in the UK cannot have any European free movement immigration rights. However, if the British citizen moves to another EEA country (such as Germany) to exercise Treaty rights by working there then they can take advantage of free movement rights, and any non-EEA family members could come to join him/her in Germany.
So, for example, the non-EEA spouse of the British citizen could come to Germany and join the British citizen under European law, and the non-EEA spouse would be issued with an EEA visa by the German authorities.
In such a situation as this it could happen that eventually, the British citizen would want to move back to the UK. The “Surinder Singh” route (which is named after a case in the European Court of Justice) enables the non-EEA spouse to accompany the British citizen back to the UK as their family member under European law; the non-EEA spouse retains the European free movement immigration rights that they acquired outside the UK. This means that non-EEA family member could potentially avoid submitting the application under more stringent UK Immigration Rules, i.e. the earning requirements of £18,600 for spouses and civil partners.
The Court of Justice has also decided more broadly, in related decisions, that where a non-EEA family member of an EEA national wants to enter an EEA country with their EEA family member who is a citizen of that country, and the non-EEA national has a valid EEA visa issued by a different EEA country, then the immigration authorities have to admit them. The immigration authorities cannot require the non-EEA family member to additionally hold an EEA visa issued by them.
So a non-EEA family member of a British citizen who holds a valid EEA visa based on that family relationship, issued by any EEA country, should be able to enter the UK with their British family member or join their British family member in the UK on the basis of that visa.
The approach of the Home Office is however much more complex. EEA Regulations 2016 introduced a number of amendments to the Surinder Singh route, in particular, that the residence in an EEA state was “genuine”.