EU Settlement Scheme
If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you and your family can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK after 30 June 2021. The EEA includes the EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. If your application is successful, you’ll get either settled or pre-settled status.
This will give you the right to remain in the UK after 30th June 2021. You may be able to stay in the UK without applying - for example, if you’re an Irish citizen or you already have indefinite leave to remain.
It is free to apply. To qualify for Settled Status you’ll need to prove you have lived in the UK for 5 years. You must have started living in the UK by 31 December 2020. If you do not have 5 years’ continuous residence when you apply, you’ll usually get pre-settled status. You can then apply to change this to settled status once you’ve got 5 years’ continuous residence.
You can find out about the scheme by visiting gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families which contains the full guidance. It doesn’t matter how long you have lived in the UK, you will still need to apply unless you have indefinite leave to enter the UK, indefinite leave to remain in the UK or have British or Irish citizenship (including ‘dual citizenship’).
All EU nationals will need to apply in order to remain in the UK after 30 June 2021.
Citizens Advice Eastbourne wants to make sure all EU nationals in the town know about the scheme, find out how to apply and know what help is available.
Chief Officer, Alan Bruzon, says “This scheme opened in April 2019 but there hasn’t been much publicity about it. It’s important that European nationals know about the scheme and look into how to apply. It is better to be informed and find out what you need to do. We would also urge European nationals to spread this message across their communities, especially to elderly or vulnerable people who may not find out from other channels. ”