If you are considering making an application under the EU Settlement Scheme, the following guide will answer those all-important questions on how to complete the settled status UK EU citizens’ application form.
The settlement scheme requires EU, EEA and Swiss citizens living in the UK, together with their eligible non-EEA family members, to protect their rights to remain in the UK after it leaves the EU.
Which form will I need to complete to apply for settled status UK?
If you are a citizen from the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, you and your family have to register under the EU Settlement Scheme by 30 June 2021 to continue living in the UK lawfully.
As an EEA or Swiss citizen, or the family member of an EEA or Swiss citizen, you should apply using the online form. This can be accessed on any device, such as a laptop, Android phone or iPhone.
However, there are various categories of applicant who are not permitted to use the online application form, but instead must apply using a paper form to be sent via post.
In particular, you will need to use a paper form if you are not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen and you are applying as:
- the family member of a British citizen you lived with in Switzerland or an EU or EEA country that is not the UK
- the family member of a British citizen who also has EU, EEA or Swiss citizenship and who lived in the UK as an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen before getting British citizenship
- the primary carer of a British, EU, EEA or Swiss citizen
- the child of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen who used to live and work in the UK, and you are in education, or you are the child’s primary carer.
What information will I need to complete the settled status form?
The application from will ask you questions about your identity, your application type and your residence in the UK.
You will also be asked questions about crimes you’ve been convicted of or you are waiting to go to court for.
The Home Office will check both UK and international criminal records, whereby your application could be rejected if you fail to disclose or lie about your criminal record or a crime that you have been charged with.
However, you are not obligated to disclose if you went to court for a civil matter, including debt recovery actions or family hearings, or where you have committed a driving offence but didn’t get a summons from a court.
Before starting your application, you will need the following documents:
- An identity document, for example, a valid passport or national identity card. If you’re not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you can use a passport, biometric residence card or biometric residence permit.
- Proof of your residence in the UK.
- A national insurance number to prove how long you’ve lived in the UK.
If you are unable to provide your national insurance number, or there are gaps or mistakes in your record, you will need other documents to prove how long you have lived in the UK.
If you are not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you will also need documents to prove your relationship to a family member from the EU, EEA or Switzerland. All documents must have your name and a date on them.
You will also need to provide your telephone number and email address, as well as a digital photo, during your application.
Will I need to submit documents with my form?
When providing documentation during the course of your online application you can either scan your documents and upload your photo using the ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app or, alternatively, send your documents in the post and upload your photo using the online application.
You can only use the ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app for Android to scan your documents if either you have a valid EU, EEA or Swiss passport or ID card, or if you have a UK-issued biometric residence card, otherwise you’ll need to send your documents by post.
The ‘ID Document Check’ app will be available for iPhone by the end of 2019. However, you are permitted to use someone else’s Android phone to prove your identity. You can also visit one of the organisations offering to scan your documents for you, although you will need to book an appointment and you may have to pay a fee.
You must send your document by post if you have a non-EU or EEA passport, a biometric residence permit or a non-biometric ID card.
Can you complete the settled status application form from overseas?
You don’t need to physically be present in the UK to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme, although you do need to be living in the UK at the time of your application. In other words, you must have a UK residential address.
Further, the status that you will be granted will depend on how long you have lived in the UK. For example, if you have lived in the UK for 5 or more years, if your application is successful you should be granted settled status.
To be eligible for settled status you usually need to have lived in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for at least 6 months in any 12 month period for 5 years in a row.
If, on the hand, you have lived in the UK for less than 5 years, you will only be granted pre-settled status. This will allow you to stay in the UK for 5 years, whereby you will need to make a further application once you have acquired the requisite period of continuous residence for settled status.
To be eligible for pre-settled status, you must have started living in the UK by 31 December 2020, or by the date the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
What is the deadline to apply for settled status UK?
The final deadline to apply is 30 June 2021. After this date, you will lose your previous right to remain in the UK lawfully and must either leave the UK or apply for permission to stay under the new UK immigration rules.
How much does it cost to apply for Settled Status UK?
It is free to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme. If you have already applied under the scheme and paid a fee you will be entitled to a refund. This should be refunded automatically to the card on which you paid the application fee.
Do you have a question about the Settled Status UK form?
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals
