EU Settlement Scheme update

Further to our article last month the Home Office has now confirmed that employers will not be required to check that employees recruited before 30 June 2021 have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

There is a helpful new leaflet, which helps EU nationals understand how to prove their right to work. There have now been over five million applications to the EUSS. However, we are concerned that there are still lots of people who need to apply.

In particular we are worried that children are being overlooked. The Home Office plans to try and address this through communications targeted at the education system, but efforts have been impeded by the current lockdown and a desire to avoid overburdening schools. If you are a school governor, or involved in your PTA, why not start a conversation to find out what is being done to share information about the EUSS with parents/carers at your school? It is important to check that everyone is clear that applications are also required for children.

The other group who we worry may be failing to apply, is third country nationals with an EU residence card. This includes non-EU nationals who are in the UK as EU family members. Although their BRP probably has a later expiry date, Brexit means it will cease to be valid after 30 June 2021. This group need to apply for Pre-Settled or Settled Status by 30 June 2021. We have raised this with the Home Office and pointed out that they do already know who all of these people are. Apparently they are still considering how best to target this group.

These articles are from the February 2021 issue of Employment and Immigration Law Update, our monthly newsletter for HR professionals. To download the latest issue, please visit the newsletter section of our website. For further information please contact a member of Birketts’ Immigration Team.