Latest EU Settlement Scheme statistics
From today, EU nationals living in the UK have exactly one year left to apply under the EU Settlement Scheme to secure their residency status.
On 18 June, the Home Office published a report on the latest statistics relating to the EU Settlement Scheme, providing a breakdown of applications to the scheme so far.
Although the 3.6 million applications received under the scheme so far is positive, the government does not know the exact number of EU nationals living in the UK who are eligible to apply, and so nobody knows what the final total should be.
With the clock ticking down to the application deadline of 30 June 2021 and the global COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, MPs and campaigners have called on the Home Office to step up its efforts in identifying and supporting those who have not yet applied to the scheme. Following the latest report, here we examine the statistics so far.
The key findings
The data presented in the report refers to data collected in the month of May as well as ‘total’ numbers since testing of the scheme began (from 28 August 2018 to 31 May 2020).
The key figures from the report are as follows:
- Number of applications received – In May 2020, the total number of applications received was 76,400. Overall, the total number of applications received up to 31 May 2020 now stands at over 3.6 million (3,612,400).
- Number of applications concluded – The number of applications conclued in May 2020 was 98,800. Overall, the total number of applications that have been concluded is over 3.3 million (3,319,000).
- Outcome of concluded applications – Of the total applications concluded so far, 57% have been granted settled status and 41% have been granted pre-settled status. Of the remaining applications, 28,900 received a withdrawn or void outcome, 14,100 were invalid and 900 were refused.
- Grounds for refusals – Of the total refusals so far, 99% were refused on eligibility grounds and 1% were refused on suitability grounds. Many of the cases refused on eligibility grounds had been under consideration for several months and were subject to repeated unsuccessful attempts to obtain missing evidence or information from the applicant.
- Applications by location – In total, the majority of applications to the scheme so far were received from England (3,293,900). An additional 180,700 applications were received from Scotland, 59,700 from Northern Ireland and 59,400 from Wales.
- Applications by nationality – Applications to the scheme have been received from citizens of all EEA countries and Switzerland. As of 31 May 2020, in total the highest number of applications have been received by Polish nationals (697,900). This is followed by Romanian (590,100) and Italian (363,600) nationals. A total of 189,800 applications have been received from non-EEA, non-Swiss nationals.
A more detailed quarterly statistical report on the EU Settlement Scheme is due to be published in August 2020, and will cover the period to the end of June 2020.
As the deadline approaches and the COVID-19 crisis continues to take precedence in the media, many experts are urging the government to take action now to reach vulnerable groups at risk of missing the deadline.
Get support with your EU settlement application
With just a year remaining until the application deadline of 30 June 2021, Smith Stone Walters advises EU nationals living in the UK to apply as soon as possible.
To help you apply, we have produced an informative video guide which explains the application process in detail.
If you have any questions on the EU Settlement Scheme or need some support with filing your application, our team of immigration advisers would be delighted to help. Contact our team today – we are immigration experts.
