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New UK Immigration Status for EU Citizens and Their Families - What You Need to Know

on Tuesday, 03 July 2018.

EU citizen employees of Pharma & Life Sciences businesses concerned about their status after Brexit should know that the UK government have recently released more details about the application process they will need to go through to confirm their status.

The Government have published a "Statement of Intent" setting out in more detail their plans for confirming the immigration status of EU citizens and their families living in the UK. The Statement confirms, amongst other things, that status will be granted to qualifying EU citizens under new Immigration Rules which are to be laid before Parliament in the coming months.

The EU Settlement Scheme will primarily be delivered through a digital application process which will be implemented from late 2018. Applications will, for now at least, have to be made in the UK and will attract application fees of £65 for adults and £32.50 for children under 16. There will be three core criteria which applicants will need to meet:

  • Verifying identity and nationality - in most cases this will be done using the applicant's passport or national identity card.
  • Establishing residence in the UK for five years - where possible, data held by HM Revenue & Customs will be used as a verification tool. Applicants will also be able to upload additional evidence to fill in gaps in residence or where there is no government data.
  • Verifying suitability - checks against UK criminality and security databases will be conducted as well as overseas criminal record checks where appropriate.

EU citizens and their family members who, by 31 December 2020, have been continuously resident in the UK for five years will be able to use this application process to apply for 'settled status', which will entitle them to stay indefinitely after June 2021.

EU citizens and their family members who arrive by 31 December 2020 but will not yet have been continuously resident in the UK for five years, will be able to use the application process to apply for 'pre-settled status', enabling them to stay until they have reached the five-year threshold.

Where an applicant has been granted pre-settled status under the scheme, there will, from April 2019, be no fee when they subsequently apply for settled status, which in most cases will be after they have accumulated five years' continuous residence in the UK.

Those who already hold valid permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain documents will be able to apply for settled status free of charge.

Evidence of status will be issued to EU citizens in digital form only. Non-EU citizen family members will be issued with a biometric residence permit.

The UK Government have said that their main aim in developing this scheme has been to ensure that EU citizens and their family members living in the UK can continue to do so much as before. Qualifying EU citizens and their family members will continue to have the same entitlements to work (subject to any relevant occupational requirements), study, public services and benefits. A shift in culture at the Home Office will be required in processing these applications, though. The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, has said that they will work with applicants to help them avoid any errors or omissions and that caseworkers will be looking to approve applications, not for reasons to refuse.

There will be no change to current rights for EU citizens until the end of the implementation period on 31 December 2020. More information on when the EU Settlement Scheme will open is expected to be released shortly, but expectations are that most people will be able to start applying from the end of 2018.

Arrangements for citizens of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are still being negotiated but are expected to be similar or identical to the arrangements made for EU citizens.

We will continue to keep you updated on developments in this area.


Pharma and Life Sciences businesses with questions about any immigration issue, including those arising from Brexit, are welcome to contact Tom Brett Young in our Immigration team on 0121 227 3759.

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