EU Settlement Visa
EUSS family permit
The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) Family Permit is available to non-EEA citizens who wish to come to the UK in order to join or accompany a close family member who is a relevant EEA citizen.
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EU Settlement Scheme Family Permits are also available to non-EEA citizens who wish to join or accompany a close family member who is an eligible person of Northern Ireland or an eligible naturalised British citizen, or family members of British citizens who have lived with that British citizen in another EU country prior to 31 December 2020.
In order to qualify for an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit you will need to satisfy UK Visas & Immigration that:
- You are the joining family member of a relevant EEA citizen (an EEA citizen who holds either Settled Status or Pre-Settled Status, or has applied and is waiting for a decision).
- You will be accompanying the EEA citizen to the UK or joining them in the UK within 6 months of the date of application.
- Your family relationship began prior to 31 December 2020.
Settled Status
The EU Settlement Scheme is open to resident EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 (the end of the ‘Withdrawal Period’) and are seeking to remain after 30 June 2021.
Eligible persons who have completed a continuous 5 year period of qualifying residence in the UK will be granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK, also known as Settled Status. Most applicants now eligible to apply for Settled Status will already have been granted Pre-Settled Status.
The EU Settlement Scheme is also open to joining family members, who have an EU, EEA or Swiss relative who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 where the relevant relationship was formed prior to this date and continues to exist at the date of application. They will usually first have to apply for a family permit to enter the UK and must then apply for pre-settled status to remain living in the UK. After a continuous period of 5 years with Pre-Settled Status, they might then be able to apply for Settled Status.
Pre-Settled Status
The EU Settlement Scheme is open to resident EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 and who wish to remain in the UK after 30 June 2021.
Eligible persons who have not completed a continuous 5 year period of qualifying residence in the UK will be granted a period of 5 years’ limited leave, also known as Pre-Settled Status.
The EU Settlement Scheme is also open to joining family members, who have an EU, EEA or Swiss relative who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 where the relevant relationship was formed prior to this date. They will first have to apply for an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit to enter the UK and must then apply for Pre-Settled Status to remain living in the UK.
The deadline for making an application to the EU Settlement Scheme for EEA nationals and their family members who were resident in the UK prior to 31 December 2020 was 30 June 2021. Those who were not yet eligible for Settled Status by that date were able to apply for Pre-Settled Status, and subsequently apply for Settled Status after a continuous qualifying period of residence of 5 years.
If an application was not made for either Settled or Pre-Settled Status by this date, then you may still be able to apply if there are reasonable grounds for making a late application.
Swiss nationals will be able to bring a spouse or civil partner to the UK until 31 December 2025 if the relationship began between 31 December 2020 and 31 December 2025 and the relationship is continuing.
Family members of a British citizen who lived outside the UK in an EEA country with the British citizen needed to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by 29 March 2022. However, there is scope for late applications to be made here too.
Derivative Rights of residence
A person with a derivative right to reside in the UK is able to apply for Settled Status or Pre-Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme:
A person who had a derivative right to reside in the UK must have been resident for a continuous qualifying period in the UK with a right to reside by virtue of Regulation 16(1) of the EEA Regulations in conjunction with subparagraphs (2), (3) and (4). This is based on the case law in Chen and others (Free movement of persons) [2004] EUECJ C-200/02, Ibrahim C-310/08 and Teixeira C-480/08.
You will be required to show that you are:
- The primary carer of:
- A child from the EEA who is financially independent (regardless of whether they had comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the UK) who would have to leave the UK if you left the UK;
- The child of an EEA national who stops working in the UK or leaves the UK whilst you are in education in the UK.
In addition, one can apply for the following as well:
- Zambrano – where you are the primary carer of a British citizen children on dependant adult has to leave the EEA if the carer left the UK.
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