Here is what you need to know about applying to the EUSS if you have left the UK before the 31 December 2020
Why is the 31 December 2020 date so important?
In order to be a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement and qualify for status under the EUSS, it is necessary to have been living in the UK before the end of the transition period which ended at 11pm on 31 December 2020 (unless you are in joining family member, in which case you can join your sponsoring EU family member in the UK after the end of 2020). In most cases being resident in the UK by the end of 2020 means living in the UK at the end of 2020. However, in some cases your residence may have occurred earlier and you have since left the UK, meaning you would not be considered to be a resident on 31 December 2020. However, not being a resident on 31 December 2020 may not be a barrier to acquiring settled status if certain conditions are met. Advisers often refer to these EUSS applications as ‘historical residence claims’.
What is a historical residence claim and what are the conditions?
In order to qualify for settled status as an EU citizen based on historical UK residence, all three conditions below need to be met:
- You need to show reasonable grounds for missing the 30 June 2021 deadline to apply;
- You need to have lived in the UK for a continuous residence period of 5 years, and;
- Since you moved away from the UK, you have not been absent from the UK for 5 years continuously.
With respect of condition 1, you should see the section How do I apply late to the EU settlement scheme?. In terms of condition 2, the continuous residence period of 5 years is defined in the same way as it would be for an EUSS applicant resident on 31 December 2020. Therefore, to know if you have a historical continuous qualifying period of 5 years you should see the section How does continuous residence work?.
If you meet condition 1 and 2, then you can move to assessing considering condition 3, which is that since you moved away from the UK (after completing your continuous residence period of 5 years), you have not had continuous absence of 5 years. Simply put the question is, since you stopped living in the UK have you been away for 5 years or more without ever having returned (even for a short visit). If the answer is that you have at least visited the UK at some point within 5 years since you stopped living here (and there has not been 5 years of absence from the UK since you last visited), then you meet condition 3.
For example: in 2008 you moved to the UK for work and you lived in the UK continuously until 2014 (during which time you only took short holidays away from the UK). This means you lived in the UK continuously for six years, and therefore, you satisfy condition 2 above. After leaving the UK in 2014 you then visited for a couple of weeks in 2019 and then you had a further visit for a long weekend in 2023. Because the gap between your moving away from the UK and you or two visits never exceeds five years continuously, you can satisfy condition 3. This means you can apply for settled status based on your historical UK residence explaining why you missed the 30 June 2021 deadline to apply.
What evidence do I need to present to the Home Office?
If you are making an application to the settled status based on your historical UK residence, you will be considered a late applicant as you should have submitted your application by 30 June 2021. Therefore, the first part of your application will be explaining the reasons why you missed the deadline to apply. Please see the section How do I apply late to the EU settlement scheme? for information about how to submit a late application. In many historical residence cases, the reason why the application is late is because the person has already left the UK and was unaware of the existence of the EUSS or that they could qualify for status under the EUSS (having left the UK already). If this is the case, it is important to explain in your late application why are you were unaware that you could have applied to the EUSS and also, how you found out that you might be eligible for settled status based on your historical UK residence.
If the Home Office accepts your late application then your eligibility for settled status under conditions 2 and 3 above will be assessed. This means you will need to present evidence to the Home Office to show that you satisfy the conditions. If your historical residence was several years ago, it is unlikely that Home Office will be able to find sufficient government records of your residence even if you were issued with a National Insurance number. Therefore, it is highly likely that you will need to submit documents to prove your five continuous years of residence (see the link in further Information below for Home Office guidance on evidence that can prove UK residence).
To satisfy condition 3 above, you will need to provide evidence showing that you have since you stopped living in the UK, you have not had an absence of five years or more. This could include travel tickets and itineraries when you have travelled back to the UK, as well as evidence of spending whilst present in the UK (e.g. hotel or accommodation bills or other spending during the stay).
As it can be tricky to get the right evidence for an application based on historical residence, it may be necessary to engage with a qualified and regulated legal adviser who can advise and assist you prepare your application. We have provided more information about finding a qualified and regulated legal adviser in the section Where can I find regulated immigration advice?.
What if I lived in the UK in the past but not for 5 years?
Generally, historical residence applications will only succeed if the applicant has lived in the UK for 5 continuous years before they moved away. Therefore, if you lived in the UK for less than 5 years it is unlikely that you will be able to make a successful application based on historical UK residence.
Example: in 2015 you moved to the UK to study at university and after completing a three-year degree you left the UK in 2018. Since leaving the UK, you have returned every couple of years to visit for a few weeks at a time. In this situation, you would not be able to make an application based on historic residence, as you only have three years of continuous UK residence before you left. Even though you have visited the UK since 2018 and therefore have never been absent for more than five years, because you cannot satisfy condition 2 above you will not qualify for settled status (it is not possible to qualify for pre-settled status based on historical residence).
However, there are some limited situations where a person can qualify for settled status without completing a 5 year continuous residence period which can also apply to historical residence claims. See the section on How does continuous residence work? under the heading When can I be granted settled status with less than 5 years continuous residence? for more information about these situations.
Further information
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