Over three million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme received
06 February 2020
Less than a year ago, the EU Settlement Scheme was made widely available to the public and within that short timeframe, over three million applications have been made, with a staggering 2.7 million individuals being granted status.
Home Secretary, Priti Patel confirmed the number of applications, taken from the latest internal figures and commented:
“I’m delighted that there have already been more than 3 million applications to the hugely successful EU Settlement Scheme.
It’s the biggest scheme of its kind in British history and means that EU citizens can evidence their rights for decades to come.
It’s now time for EU countries to adopt a similar scheme.”
In order to apply, individuals must complete three crucial tasks – proving their identity, evidencing that they live in the UK and disclosing any criminal convictions. The EU Settlement Scheme is designed to guarantee the rights of EU, EEA or Swiss citizens and their families, to continue living and working in the UK after 30th June 2021.
The official statistics have been published and provide a breakdown of where the applications have been made from, the nationality of those who applied and the age brackets. There were nearly one million applications from those living in London up to the end of 2019. October 2019 saw the largest influx of applications being processed in one month, as 400,000 individuals secured their status by UK law. Over 1,250 Home Office caseworkers have been kept busy by processing up to 10,000 applications on a daily basis.
There will be a new advertising campaign launched next week to encourage any who need to apply to do so, and adverts will be shown on catch-up TV, played on the radio and be shown online and via social media. Polish, Romanian, Italian, Lithuanian and Portuguese newspapers will also feature the adverts.
250 of the Home Office staff are based in Liverpool, where their role is to help applicants with any queries about the scheme or where they need assistance with applications. In addition to this, 57 voluntary and community sector organisations have been established, who have helped thousands of vulnerable EU citizens.
Additional support is also available to those EU citizens in the UK who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply. This includes over 300 Assisted Digital locations across the UK where people can be supported through their application and over 80 locations where people can have their passport scanned and verified.
Individuals have until 30 June 2021 to apply for settled status to allow them to reside in the UK after that point.
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