Your business and the EU settlement scheme

As an Employer, it’s been a long and uncertain 3 years for the UK and Brexit and especially for members of your team who are EU nationals living and working in the UK. From a business perspective, this uncertainty could have a very negative impact on your business if retaining EU national staff, and recruiting them in the future is part of your plan.

While the Vote Leave campaign promised ‘no change for EU citizens already lawfully resident in the UK’, the government has introduced the EU settlement scheme. The application is free for everyone to register their immigration status.

We have provided the answers to some of the most common questions surrounding Employers and the EU Settlement Scheme

Application deadlines:

The UK is set to leave the EU on the 31st January 2020, the deadline for the Settlement scheme is 30th June 2021 and applicants must be living in the UK before 31st December 2020 which is the end of the transition period.

Who is affected?

Your staff from the following areas will be affected:

• Nations within the European Union
• Nations within the European Economic Area (this is the EU, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)
• Switzerland

How can your staff make an application through the EU settlement scheme?

The application process can only be completed online. There are no options for a face to face application or application by way of post. The steps that are required are as follows:

• Identification – each person will need to verify their identity and nationality, either through their passport, national identity card or biometric residence permit.
• Eligibility – each person will need to prove that they are resident in the UK. The person’s employment, tax and benefits records will be automatically checked to establish their length of continuous residence. If there are gaps in the person’s residence however, they will be able to upload additional documents to fill in those gaps.
• Suitability – criminal record checks will be made for any person over the age of 18. If an applicant is found to have been guilty of serious or persistent criminality either in the UK or overseas, they will have their application refused.

If the applicant is the family member of an EU national, and they are from outside of the EU, they will also need to establish their relationship to the EU national, through a birth certificate, marriage certificate etc. The additional evidence will need to be scanned and uploaded as part of the application process.

Need more information on the EU Settlement Scheme? Follow the link https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families or contact us
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