EU Worker Settled Status- Are Your Workers Compliant?

29 June 2021

EU Settled Status

European citizens' deadline to apply for settled status is fast approaching and from the 1st July, the ways companies conduct a ‘Right to Work’ check in the UK will change and EU workers will not be able to use European passport or ID cards to prove their right to work. Instead, EU citizens will have to show they have a settled status to continue working for their employers in the UK.

EEA workers with Pre-Settled and Settled status, will need to provide a ‘Share Code’ to check their right to work in the UK. If a EU worker already has a pre-settled status, you’ll still be able to reapply to the scheme to upgrade to settled status after 30 June 2021.If an EU citizen has been resident in the UK for more than 5 continuous years, they will be eligible to apply for ‘settled status’. If an EU citizen has been living in the UK for less than five continuous years, they will be eligible for pre-settled status.

Can you lose ‘settled status’?

‘Settled status’ under the EU settlement scheme granted to Swiss citizens and their family members will be lost after a continuous absence of more than four years from the UK and Islands. ‘Settled status' granted to everyone else under the scheme will be lost after a continuous absence of more than five years from the UK and Islands.

Can you lose pre-settled status?

'Pre-settled' status will be lost after a continuous absence of more than two years from the UK and Islands.
If you lose your ‘pre-settled status’, and you no longer meet the requirements of the EU settlement scheme, i.e you return to the UK after 31 December 2020, you will have to apply under a relevant category of the Immigration Rules. Applications under other categories of the Immigration Rules are valid for entry to the UK on or after 1 January 2021; you cannot apply in the UK until that date.

Gaining settled status means that an EU worker will still have the right to public services, public funds and pensions and can eventually apply for British citizenship.

EU Settlement Status