UK immigration lawyer

Smith Stone Walters specialises in UK immigration, offering expert assistance in corporate transfers and individual visa applications. Our tailored approach merges professional know-how with a personal touch, guaranteeing a smooth, stress-free journey for every client, from start to finish.

EU Settlement Scheme applications reach one million

25.07.2019

The Home Office’s EU Settlement Scheme statistics for the month ending June 2019 confirmed the number of EU citizens living in the UK who had applied for settled or pre-settled status so far.

Submitted applications

The total number of applications submitted up to 30 June 2019 was 909,300. Of those, 805,500 had been successfully approved.

Speaking on Twitter yesterday, the outgoing Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes indicated that the Scheme had now received over one million applications.

To date, the application ‘type’ has been split 60:40: 60% settled status versus 40% pre-settled status. It is estimated that over three million EU citizens will need to register for either status before 2021.

Evidence of Residence

When filing their application, nine out of 10 applicants use their National Insurance number as proof of UK residence. As a consequence, 75% of all applicants have not been required to submit any further supporting evidence prior to a decision being made on their application.

However, based on this current ratio, this could mean up to 750,000 EU nationals (of the 3 million expected to apply via the scheme) could be required to present additional evidence of their UK residency.

Submission Support

A £9 million fund has been made available to vulnerable EU citizens who may need help in making their application. The campaign group the3million agrees with the Immigration Minister that as many as 200,000 people could fall into this category. As this works out at only £45 per vulnerable citizen, concerns have been raised that the value of the fund may prove to be inadequate.

Smith Stone Walters has produced a short film that explains how the EU Settlement Scheme works and how to access the app.

This video forms part of a tailor-made service offered by Smith Stone Walters to UK businesses employing EU workers. The support you can receive includes:

Audit We will review the status of all your EU employees and advise how the Settlement Scheme affects them and their families.
Presentations We will deliver seminar sessions to your workforce tailored to meet your objectives
Surgeries With your consent, we will provide on-site one to one drop-in sessions with your EU employees.
Application submission We will apply for pre-settled and settled status on behalf of your workers.
Compliance We will review your Right to Work checks and provide advice on best practice post-Brexit.
Tracker Our secure software platform will provide your business with a real-time overview of the current progress made by your EU staff towards settled status.