Permanent residence card holders can now apply for the EU Settlement Scheme application despite missing the deadline.
On 16 January 2024, the Home Office published their updated guidance confirming that where a person has a reasonable belief that they did not need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme due to holding a document confirming their right of permanent residence in the UK as an EU national, then this constitutes as reasonable grounds for a late application.
In August last year, the Home Office confirmed that it would not accept late applications for the EU Settlement Scheme where EU nationals had applied for a permanent residence card instead. Permanent residence cards were no longer valid after the June 2021 deadline for the EU Settlement Scheme.
Therefore, previously, lack of awareness of the EU Settlement Scheme was not considered to be a good enough ground for a late application. The new guidance published on the 16th of January 2024 confirms that late applications made from EU nationals with valid permanent residence cards who were unaware of the EU Settlement Scheme rules are now reasonable grounds for a late application.
This is good news for EU nationals and their family members who are currently holding permanent residence in the UK but did not secure their immigration status post Brexit by applying for the EU Settlement Scheme as they reasonably believed that they did not have to as they hold permanent residence in the UK.
We recommend that any permanent residence holders now looking to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme should upload any evidence in support of their application to show that they had reasonable belief that they had already regularised their status in the UK by obtaining a permanent residence. This could include any email exchanges they have had with an employer to evidence their right to work in the UK using their permanent residence.
We also advise that any permanent residence holders looking to make an application for the EU Settlement Scheme to get in touch as soon as possible so we can assist them on securing their immigration status in the UK.
We offer a free 10-minute obligation-free consultation to assess your situation and provide further guidance before starting the application process.
Please contact us to speak to a member of our Immigration team.
