Home Office published EU Settlement Scheme pilot phase report

The pilot phase of EU Settlement Scheme was launched on 1 November 2018 and finished on 21 December 2018. Europeans working in the sector of higher education, health and social welfare took part in the pilot.  In addition, vulnerable residents, for example, children in care and those residents who receive support from certain community groups were also engaged.  The scheme is now opened to public. All EU citizens with valid passports and their non-EU family members with 5 years BRPs can apply for their new immigration status from 21 January 2019. EU residents, who only have identity cards in place, as well as citizens of Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein are able to submit their applications only in March 2019.

According to the report, Home Office made 27 000, decisions during the pilot phase. 70% applicants received a positive outcome to be granted permanent status. The rest 30% of applicants got a temporary status, as they have not five years residency in the UK.

Despite the zero figure of refusals, it is worth to mention that about 2 800 applications are still under consideration out of which 1 000 applicants should send their passport to the Home Office, as they could not scan it through the Android application. Some applicants mistakenly thought that they already had permanent resident status and they had just to exchange it for a new one. In most cases, applicants were under impression that a certificate of registration or a plastic BRP card are the documents confirming their permanent residence status. In few cases, the Home Office is still awaiting for applicant’s additional supporting documents confirming their residence in the UK.

In  80% the processing time for successful applications was one week and 77% of applicants described the whole process as “very or fairly easy.” Nevertheless, the remaining 23%, which is about 800 000 people, faced certain difficulties while applying through the new scheme.

Theresa May also announced that the government had scraped application fee of £ 65. Starting from 21 January 2019, getting the residence status via new EU Settlement Scheme is free of charge.