What is the EU Settlement Scheme?

Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, EU, EEA, Swiss citizens and their family members who were legally resident in the UK before the end of the transition period (31 December 2020) are eligible for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. This protects their rights to continue to work and reside in the UK.

To obtain settled status, individuals must make an application before 30 June 2021. As of 31 May 2021, 5.61 million applications had been received and 5.27 million had been concluded. If an applicant has resided in the UK for less than five continuous years, they will be granted ‘pre-settled status’ which they must then apply to have upgraded to ‘settled status’ after five years of continuous residence.

As of 31 May 2021, 52% of applications resulted in settled status, 43% resulted in pre-settled status, while 2% were refused, and 1% each either withdrawn/void or invalid.

Read our report reflecting on the EU Settlement Scheme here.