The latest EUSS factsheet is available here: https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/17/media-factsheet-eu-settlement-scheme-2/
The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) enables EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens resident in the UK by the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, and their family members, to obtain the status they require in order to live and work in the UK after 30 June 2021.
The scheme opened to the public on 30 March 2019. The deadline for most people to apply to the EUSS was 30 June 2021, but eligible applicants may still be able to apply if they have a later deadline to do so or they have ‘reasonable grounds’ for their delay in applying.
More than three years have passed since the 30 June 2021 deadline, and we continue to make changes to the scheme. This includes a change from January to automatically convert eligible pre-settled status holders to settled status without the need for them to make a further EUSS application (further details are below).
Key statistics
- According to the latest published statistics, up to 30 September 2024, there have been more than 8.2 million applications received and 8 million applications concluded.
- As of 30 September 2024, an estimated 5.7 million people had obtained status under the EUSS.
- More than 540,000 vulnerable people have been supported to apply to the scheme by our network of grant-funded organisations across the UK.
Settled status automation from 2025
- From 16 January 2025, the Home Office will introduce a new process to automatically convert eligible pre-settled status holders to settled status without the need for them to make a further EUSS application.
- This process will see pre-settled status holders who are approaching the expiry of their status informed by email that their case may soon be considered for conversion to settled status. We expect to issue the first grants of settled status under this process to begin in late January 2025). Pre-settled status holders will not need to take any action and we will inform them if we are unable to convert them to settled status.
- The rollout of this change will be phased, and later in 2025, the Home Office will expand the process to enable more eligible pre-settled status holders to be converted to settled status without them needing to make an application for it. We are also considering the appropriate next steps for cases where a pre-settled status holder has ceased to meet the conditions of their pre-settled status by not maintaining their continuous residence in the UK and will provide further information in due course.
- The Home Office will undertake automated checks of pre-settled status holders against government-held information, for example in respect of their ongoing continuous residence in the UK. This reflects the assessment undertaken when the person first applied to the EUSS and will ensure their eligibility for settled status before it is granted.
- All EUSS status-holders are encouraged to update their digital status with their latest passport/national identity card information, and contact details, including their email address, using the ‘Update your UK Visas and Immigration account details’ service at www.gov.uk/update-uk-visas-immigration-account-details
- A wide range of help and support remains available for those who need it.
What is the Home Office’s response to the High Court judgment in the judicial review brought by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA) concerning pre-settled status holders under the EUSS?
- The High Court judgment found that the Withdrawal Agreement right to reside of a person with pre-settled status does not expire for failure to make a further application to the EUSS.
- The Home Office implemented the ruling in 2023 and individuals’ with pre-settled status are currently automatically extended by five years before it expires, where they remain eligible and have not yet obtained settled status under the EUSS.
- To ensure that all those eligible for settled status obtain it as soon as possible, we previously announced that we intend to automate that process as well, which we are now implementing.
- In the meantime, Pre-settled status holders are still encouraged to apply for settled status as soon as they are eligible for it, to obtain secure evidence of their right to remain in the indefinitely in the UK.
What status will successful applicants get?
- Successful applicants will be given either settled status, usually where they have lived in the UK for a continuous five-year period (known as ‘continuous residence’), or pre-settled status.
- The status granted is generally dependent on how long the applicant has been living in the UK when they apply. Those with at least five years’ continuous residence when they apply are eligible for settled status.
- Pre-settled status holders who have not yet switched to settled status and are approaching the expiry date of their status, will see their pre-settled status automatically extended by five years. This will happen automatically, and they will be notified when it has occurred. They will not need to contact the Home Office.
- This will ensure that no pre-settled status holder will see their immigration status expire. This does not impact individuals who have already switched to settled status, or have become naturalised British citizens after holding settled status.
- Further details of what successful applicants get is available at www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/what-settled-and-presettled-status-means.
Why might people be refused?
- Suitability refusals will be made where there is evidence of serious or persistent criminality. This involves considering whether a person represents a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society, where their conduct before the end of the transition period is concerned.
- Eligibility refusals will be made where someone does not meet the criteria for the scheme. For instance, they have broken their continuity of residence, or their relationship with an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen has ended.
- Evidence of residence can be as little as a utility bill, bank statements or a letter from a GP or charity.
- The vast majority of refusals to date are on eligibility grounds rather than suitability.
- In cases where an applicant is refused, the Home Office will write to them to explain what steps they can take.
- If an individual disagrees with the decision to refuse their application, they can ask for an administrative review of the decision or appeal.
- For those who have made a valid EUSS application, their rights are protected pending the outcome of their application, including any appeal.
- Published statistics show the latest refusals.
Temporary protection of rights
- EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members who make a valid in-time or late EUSS application will have their rights in the UK temporarily protected until they receive the outcome of their EUSS application, including any administrative review or appeal.
- More information can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/news/temporary-protection-for-more-applicants-to-the-settlement-scheme
- More information can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/news/temporary-protection-for-more-applicants-to-the-settlement-scheme
What is the status of those who have made a valid application but not yet received a decision?
- If someone has made a valid application to the EUSS, but has not had a decision yet, their rights in the UK are protected until their application is decided. That is the law.
- It usually takes around five working days for straightforward applications to be processed if no further information is required. Even if it takes longer, a person’s rights are protected until the outcome of the application, including any appeal against refusal.
- More information can be seen here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-application-processing-times/eu-settlement-scheme-pilot-current-expected-processing-times-for-applications
Are you introducing physical proof of status?
- There is no change to our digital approach. Physical documents can be lost, stolen, damaged or tampered with.
- The EUSS provides people with a secure, digital status which they can rely on to evidence their rights.
Evidencing status in the UK
- EUSS status holders need to use their eVisa credentials to sign into the online ‘View and Prove’ service available at www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status where they can access their immigration status (eVisa) and use it to evidence their rights in the UK.
- Further information about how individuals evidence their immigration status in the UK is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/view-and-prove-your-immigration-status-evisa.
How can someone evidence that they have an application pending?
- People who have submitted a valid EUSS application receive a Certificate of Application which they can use to prove their rights pending the outcome of their application. If an individual has been notified that they have a digital Certificate of Application, they are able to use the View and Prove service to prove their rights: www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status
How do you know employers and landlords won’t discriminate against people with pending applications?
- Employers and landlords who discriminate against those with a pending application are breaking the law and we would urge them to familiarise themselves with published guidance and the statutory codes of practice available on GOV.UK at:
- Since 2019, GOV.UK and other communication channels have carried clear and consistent messaging that checks must be completed in a non-discriminatory manner and have included information on changes to the checking process for EEA citizens specifically.
- The Home Office has delivered an extensive, wide-reaching campaign targeting UK employers with information on their obligations and responsibilities concerning right to work checks. We have also communicated with landlords and their representative groups in England about right to rent checks.
- We have delivered extensive engagement with stakeholders, including employers, landlords, financial institutions, educational establishments, local authorities, foreign administrations, and citizens, about the EUSS, the points-based immigration system and wider Future Border and Immigration System developments.
- Further guidance for employers on right to work and landlords on right to rent can be found on GOV.UK. Where necessary, employers and landlords may also contact the Home Office checking services to verify an individual’s right to work or right to rent.
How does somebody with status under the EUSS enter the UK if they do not have physical documentation to show they have applied?
- Individuals who have been granted digital status under the EUSS are not required to provide evidence of this to enter the UK. Provided that the individual travels using a document that they either used in applying to the EUSS or have added to their eVisa using the ‘Update my Documents’ feature, their status will be automatically recognised at the border.
- Where an individual travels using a document that is not known to the Home Office, they may be asked further questions or further manual systems checks may be conducted at the desk in order to verify their status.
Child citizenship
- Children born in the UK on or after 1 July 2021 to a parent with EUSS status may still be British automatically even if their parent did not have settled status at the time of the child’s birth. This may be the case where:
- The parent had applied for settled status by 30 June 2021 but was granted this after the birth; or
- The parent applied for settled status after 30 June 2021, had reasonable grounds for submitting a late application, and would have been granted settled status had they applied by 30 June 2021.
- More information about this and other circumstances in which a child is a British citizen automatically can be found at www.gov.uk/check-british-citizenship
- Any child who is not a British citizen and is born to parents with EUSS status in the UK will need their parents to obtain status for them under the EUSS, within three months of their birth, or later, where there are reasonable grounds for the delay in making the application. Applications should be made here: www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/applying-for-settled-status.
Applying on behalf of children
- An application must be made for every eligible child within a family. Parents should check if they need to make a late application on behalf of their children, even if they have already applied to the EUSS and been granted a status themselves.
- More information can be found at www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/apply-settled-status-for-child
Will somebody who has not applied have access to benefits?
- Non-British or Irish citizens require a valid immigration status, which will be checked by the department paying benefits.
- The Home Office has worked extensively with DWP and HMRC to ensure that EU, EEA and Swiss benefit claimants who were receiving benefits before the 30 June 20021 deadline received postal and (where appropriate) digital notification of the need to apply to the EUSS to secure their ongoing rights to benefits.
Will somebody who did not apply by 30 June 2021 or applies late lose guaranteed access to healthcare and NHS services?
- The Department of Health and Social Care has set out that where a valid late application to the EUSS has been made (evidenced by a Certificate of Application), the individual will be non-chargeable for NHS healthcare from the date of that application until its final outcome.
- Urgent and necessary treatment is never withheld regardless of immigration status.
What support is available for those who need to apply to switch from pre-settled to settled status, use their status, or make a late application?
- A wide range of support remains available to those who are eligible and need help to make a late application to the scheme, switch from pre-settled to settled status, or demonstrate their status.
- This includes the Settlement Resolution Centre telephone helpline, whose staff can provide assistance to applicants with any questions about the scheme or who need help applying. Full contact details for the Settlement Resolution Centre can be found at www.gov.uk/eusettlementscheme
- Additional support is available to those who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply online through the Home Office’s Assisted Digital status. Full details of Assisted Digital can be found at www.gov.uk/eusettlementscheme.
- Since 2019 the Home Office has provided grant funding totalling over £32 million to a network of organisations across the UK to support vulnerable citizens applying to the EUSS, including making a further application to switch from pre-settled to settled status. There are currently 17 grant funded organisations, and many formerly funded organisations continue to provide support to vulnerable EUSS applicants.
- Grant funding has already supported more than 540,000 vulnerable citizens in applying to the EUSS. The network of grant-funded organisations and their delivery partners are part of the wider support available to applicants through charities, community groups and local authorities across the UK.
- The list of current grant funded organisations is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-community-support-for-vulnerable-citizens/list-of-organisations.
What support is available for people with a digital-only status to demonstrate that?
- The Resolution Centre provides telephone and email support to all account holders using the online immigration status services. This includes:
- supporting users through the online journey;
- helping them to access or recover their account;
- helping them to update their personal details; and
- sharing status on behalf of account holders if they are unable to do so themselves.
- The Resolution Centre will also be able to assist users who are experiencing technical issues with their online immigration status, and where necessary, enable account holders’ status to be verified through alternative means.