Over 4 million applications have been made to the EU Settlement Scheme according to the latest Home Office figures.
The latest statistics show that 3,693,400 applications have been received from England, 204,700 from Scotland, 67,200 from Wales and 66,300 from Northern Ireland.
If you apply for the EU Settlement Scheme successfully, you will be able to continue living and working in the UK after the 30th June 2021.
You will receive either:
Settled status
Pre-settled status
What do these statuses mean?
Settled Status
this is applicable if the following applies to you:
started living in the UK by 31 December 2020.
lived in the UK for a continuous 5-year period (known as ‘continuous residence’).
Five years’ continuous residence means that for 5 years in a row you have been in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for at least 6 months in any 12-month period. The exceptions are:
one period of up to 12 months for an important reason (for example, childbirth, serious illness, study, vocational training or an overseas work posting).
compulsory military service of any length.
time they spent abroad as a Crown servant, or as the family member of a Crown servant.
time they spent abroad in the armed forces, or as the family member of someone in the armed forces.
The settled status means EU residence can stay in the UK as long as they like and if eligible can apply for British Citizenship.
Pre-settled Status
If you do not have 5 years’ continuous residence when you apply, usually pre-settled status is issued. You must have started living in the UK by 31 December 2020.
You can apply to change this to settled status once you have 5 years’ continuous residence. They must do this before your pre-settled status expires.
If you reach 5 years’ continuous residence at some point by 31 December 2020, you can choose to wait to apply until they reach 5 years’ continuous residence. This means that if the application is successful, you will get settled status without having to apply for pre-settled status first.
You can stay in the UK for a further 5 years from the date you get pre-settled status.
Applications must also be submitted for children of any age, and parents applying on their behalf are encouraged to link the applications.
A range of support is available online, by email and over the telephone to help EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
For further information on to start your application, please follow the link https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families
Our compliance team have knowledge regarding the new system to enable us to support our candidates during the transition period. If you need any advice or wish to discuss the above in more detail please call us on 01252 863 700 or email us info@epayme.co.uk and we will be happy to support you.
*Please note we are unable to provide specific immigration advice*