Do I have to apply for settled status if I have permanent residence?

Permanent Residence under the EEA Regulations

If you are an EU national (or family member of an EU national) and you have previously been granted ‘permanent residence,’ a ‘registration certificate,’ or ‘a residence card’ under the EEA Regulations before Brexit, you must apply for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Any permanent residence documents which were granted under the EEA Regulations are no longer valid. However, you can still use your permanent residence document at the border to enter the UK if:

• You have been granted pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or
• You have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme before 30 June 2021 and you are awaiting a decision on your application.

Indefinite leave to enter or remain

You may have acquired indefinite leave to enter (ILE) or indefinite leave to remain (ILR) automatically if you are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Lichtenstein and you lived in the UK before 1973.

If you are an EU national (or family member of an EU national) and you have been granted ILE or ILR, you do not need to apply for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to continue to live in the UK.

Should you wish to obtain status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may choose to apply. In this instance, you will be issued with ILE or ILR under the EU Settlement Scheme (known as ‘settled status’) and you will not need to prove that you have 5 years’ continuous residence in the UK.

If you obtain ILE/ILR under the EU Settlement Scheme, you will be able to spend up to 5 continuous years outside of the UK without losing your settled status (instead of 2 years with the ILE/ILR which you currently have).

If you are a Swiss citizen (or the family member of a Swiss citizen), you can spend up to 4 years in a row outside of the UK without losing your settled status.

If you do not have a document confirming your ILR status, you can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to get settled or pre-settled status, or if you arrived in the UK before 1989, you can apply to the Windrush scheme to get proof of your ILR status.

When to apply

The deadline to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme in most cases was 30 July 2021. However, there are some exceptions for those people who have not applied in time.

Failure to apply for the appropriate status may have implications on your right to lawfully reside and work in the UK.

How Gherson can assist

If you are an EU national (or the family member of an EU national) and you are not sure whether you are required to apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme, please contact us or send us an e-mail. Alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

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