EU citizens living in the UK who have a valid passport will be
able to take part in a public test phase of the EU Settlement
Scheme.
From 21 January 2019, EU citizens, as well as their non-EU
citizen family members who hold a valid biometric residence card,
will be able to apply for the immigration status they will need
once the UK has left the EU. By applying during this test phase,
they will also provide valuable insight into how the system is
performing so that further improvements can be made before the
scheme is fully rolled out from March 2019.
The public testing follows a successful private beta phase with
employees in the higher education, health and social care
sectors.
Immigration Minister said:
Securing the rights of EU citizens living in the UK has always
been our priority.
We are well on track to deliver a system that will make it easy
and straightforward for them to obtain status once we have left
the EU and continue to live their lives much as they do now.
This is a completely voluntary test phase, which will give us
valuable insight into how the system works and if any changes
need to be made before the full launch.
The EU Settlement Scheme will be fully open by 30 March 2019, and
EU citizens will have until 30 June 2021 to apply, in line with
the draft Withdrawal Agreement.
The expansion has been announced through changes to the
Immigration Rules. The Rules are accompanied by some initial
findings of how the scheme performed during the second private
beta test phase. Feedback during that phase, which ends on 21
December 2018, has so far been positive.
By 13 December 2018, more than 15,500 applications had been made
and more than 12,400 of these had been concluded. 71% of the
concluded applications were granted settled status and the rest
were granted pre-settled status. Many of the applicants received
their decision within 24 hours. We will publish a full report in
January 2019.
The new, wider test phase will again require applicants to prove
their identity by using the EU Exit: Identity Document Check app
which is part of the integrated online application process. There
will also be support for EU citizens who might need additional
help in making their application.
Read further information on the EU
Settlement Scheme.
