The government has published an outline of its intended EU Settlement Scheme, dealing with the status of EU nationals already resident in the UK, or who arrive before December 31 2020. These nationals and their families will be entitled to apply for ‘settled status’. A five-year period of lawful and continuous residence will be required. Those who have not, or will not have been, resident for the full five years by December 31 2020 will be entitled to apply for a ‘pre-settled status’, permitting them to remain until the five year point is reached and they qualify to apply for full settled status. That settled status will be an indefinite leave to live and work in the UK, and to apply for British citizenship if desired.
To apply, individuals will need simply to prove their identity (e.g. by showing a passport), prove their five years’ continuous residence, and pass a criminal record check. To qualify as having been in continuous residence individuals may not have been away from the UK for more than six months in any of the years counted as part of their continuous five, unless for certain exceptional circumstances. Such exceptional circumstances include pregnancy, childbirth, study and training, but there are others as well. Those applying for settled status who have already been in the UK for five years may not have been absent for more than five years subsequent to their five years of residence.
Employment and benefit records will be checked for all applicants, and in many cases this will be sufficient to prove continuous residence. Where it is not, additional proof may still be filed. The proposed application fee for the scheme is £65 (£32.50 for under 16s), but those EU nationals who already hold valid permanent residence or leave to remain documents will be entitled to exchange them for settled status free-of-charge. There will be no charge to move from pre-settled to settled status.
Online applications will open in phases from late 2018, becoming fully open from 30 March 2019 and remaining so until the 30 June 2021 deadline. No physical document will be issued to those granted settled status, the information instead being held digitally. This scheme will apply to nationals of all EU countries except the Republic of Ireland, whose citizens already have a right of UK residence unrelated to the EU. It is also expected to apply to nationals of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, but there is no formal agreement on that as yet.
Have a question about a TUPE transfer? Contact Alison via email for more information.
