Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules will provide a basis on which resident EU citizens and their family members, and the family members of certain British citizens, can apply for leave to remain in the UK under UK immigration law. Where resident EU citizens and their family members are concerned, this is in line with the draft Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union published on 19 March 20183 and will not affect their existing rights derived from EU law.
The first phase of the implementation of the EU Settlement Scheme will begin on 28 August 2018, involving the participation on a voluntary basis of persons on the payroll of the 12 NHS Trusts and enrolled students and persons on the payroll of the three Universities specified in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules.
What is being done and why?
In line with the draft Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, the Immigration Rules for the EU Settlement Scheme contained in Appendix EU provide, initially for the purposes of the first phase of the implementation of the scheme described in paragraph 3.6, above, that:
- EU citizens and their family members who, by 31 December 2020, have been continuously resident in the UK for five years will be eligible for ‘settled status’ (indefinite leave to remain in the UK).
- EU citizens and their family members who arrive by 31 December 2020 but will not by then have been continuously resident in the UK for five years, will generally be eligible for ‘pre-settled status’ (five years’ limited leave to remain in the UK), enabling them to stay until they have reached the five-year threshold. They can then also apply for settled status.
- Close family members (a spouse, civil partner, durable partner, dependent child or grandchild, and dependent parent or grandparent) living overseas will be able to join an EU citizen resident here after 31 December 2020, where the relationship existed on that date and continues to exist when the person wishes to come to the UK. Provision for future children will be made, in line with the draft Agreement.
In addition, the Government has decided, as a matter of domestic policy, that a family member of a British citizen who is lawfully resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 by virtue of regulation 9 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/1052) (“the EEA Regulations”), will be eligible to apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme contained in Appendix EU.
The requirements set out in the Immigration Rules for the EU Settlement Scheme contained in Appendix EU are in accordance with the conditions agreed under the draft Withdrawal Agreement, except where the UK is applying more favourable criteria (for example, in deciding that the main eligibility requirement for status to be granted under the scheme will be resident in the UK, generally in line with current free movement rules on the continuity of that residence). There will not be any further discretion to refuse a valid application made under the scheme beyond the conditions agreed under the draft Withdrawal Agreement, and administrative burdens will be minimised by not requiring more information than is necessary to determine whether the requirements set out in Appendix EU have been met.
