Here is what you need to know about how Covid-19 might affect your continuous residence when applying to the EU Settlement Scheme
Is Covid-19 an important reason to be outside the UK for more than 6 months?
If you have been granted settled status this section will not be relevant to you. If you have been granted pre-settled status it is unlikely this section will be relevant for your as you should first look to rely on the new continuous residence rule as set out in the section Moving from pre-settled to settle status.
If you are applying for EUSS status and have had an extended absence from the UK after your continuous residence began because of the Covid-19, the below information is very important to understand.
Neither the Withdrawal Agreement nor the EU settlement scheme could have predicted the Covid-19 pandemic. Given the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 on peoples’ lives the Home Office published Covid-19 guidance. This guidance covers those applying for EUSS status who left the UK temporarily because of the pandemic and thus exceeded the normal 6 month in 12- month absence allowance. The Home Office also changed the EUSS rules in line with this guidance to account for the Covid-19 pandemic. The guidance gives information about when the Home Office will accept absences from the UK due to Covid-19 does not break continuous residence (i.e. you will still be able to be granted EUSS status even though you have been absent from the UK in the Covid-19 pandemic).
What happens if I left the UK because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but I came back within 12 months?
The guidance confirms that in most cases Covid-19 will be considered an important reason to be outside the UK in a single period for up 12 months. The guidance contains a list of reasons of why someone might be absent because of Covid-19. These are just examples as there may be other good reasons for being absent that are not listed here:
- You were ill with Covid-19
- You were in quarantine, self-isolating or shielding in accordance with local public health guidance on Covid-19
- You were caring for a family member affected by Covid-19
- You were prevented from returning earlier to the UK due to travel disruption caused by Covid-19
- You were advised by your university that due to Covid-19, your course was moved to remote learning and you were advised or allowed to return to your home country to study remotely
- You were advised by your university or employer not to return to the UK, and to continue studying or working remotely from your home country
- You were absent from the UK for another reason relating to Covid-19, for example, you left or remained outside the UK because there were fewer coronavirus restrictions elsewhere; you preferred to work or run a business from home overseas; or you would have been unemployed in the UK and preferred to rely on support from family or friends overseas
Even if you did not leave the UK because of Covid-19 but ended up staying outside for longer than you intended, you can still rely on Covid-19 as a reason to have an extended absence from the UK. For example, if you left the UK in January 2020 for a two month tourist trip intending to return in March 2020, but because of Covid-19 you did not return to the UK until December 2020, you will have maintained your continuous residence even though the reason you first left the UK was not because of the pandemic.
What happens if I was outside the UK for more than 12 months because of Covid-19?
If you were away from the UK for more than 12 months because of Covid-19, you may still have maintained your continuous residence, as long as you can show a good reason why you remained outside the UK due to the pandemic. The wording of this part of the guidance does not seem to be as generous as the guidance for absences up to 12 months (set out above) and therefore, it is possible that the Home Office expects people who have been away for more than 12 months to show that they could not return or that they were advised not to return (for example, by their employer or university), rather than exercising a “choice” to remain outside the UK. Note that the reason why you left the UK in the first place does not need to be related to Covid-19 as for example, this could be for a different important reason such as an overseas work placement, if the pandemic then prevented you from returning within 12 months. The guidance contains a list of reasons of why someone might be absent for over 12 months because of Covid-19. These are just examples as there may be other good reasons that are not listed here:
- You were ill with coronavirus
- You were in quarantine, self-isolating or shielding in accordance with local public health guidance on coronavirus
- You were caring for a family member affected by coronavirus
- You were prevented from returning earlier to the UK due to travel disruption caused by coronavirus
- You were advised by your university or employer not to return to the UK, and to continue studying or working remotely from your home country, due to coronavirus
Given the disruption to normal life caused by Covid-19, it is important to explain in your application why you could not (or felt you could not) return to the UK earlier. The Home Office is required to make a proportionate decision with respect of your absence, which means that if your explanation is reasonable, it should be accepted.
The guidance confirms that the time outside the UK after 12 months is not counted towards the 5-year continuous qualifying period for settled status. For example, if you moved to the UK in January 2019 but you had to leave the UK for 18 months because of Covid-19 (e.g. your employer advised you to work remotely outside the UK), instead of your 5 year qualifying period finishing in January 2024, you must add a further six months to your qualifying period as your qualifying clock stopped once you had been absent from the UK for 12 months (meaning the last 6 months of your absence do not count towards your 5-year qualifying period).
I already had an absence from the UK of up to 12 months for an important reason before Covid-19 but had to leave again because of the pandemic, what happens?
The guidance confirms that it is possible to have two extended absences from the UK and still maintain your continuous residence. This applies as long as one of the absences is for an important reason unrelated to Covid-19 (with the exception of taking care of a family member who was affected by Covid-19), and the reason for the other extended absence was because of Covid-19. It does not matter which extended absence came first (i.e. it could be the extended absence for a non-Covid-19 reason followed by the extended absence because of Covid-19, or vice versa).
For example, you moved to the UK in June 2018 to work and between January 2019 and November 2019 you were sent on an overseas assignment by your employer. This absence of 11 months does not break continuous residence, because it is for an important reason (i.e. related to your employment). After returning to the UK in November 2019, you then left the UK in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and did not return until January 2021, an absence of 10 months. Although you have had two extended absences from the UK during your 5-year continuous residence period, the EUSS rules permit this because one was unrelated to the Covid-19 pandemic and the other absence was because of the pandemic. Time over 6 months outside the UK in your Covid-19 absence (being the second absence), does not count towards your 5-year continuous residence period as your qualifying clock stops, and therefore you must add 4 months to your 5-year continuous residence period meaning that you qualified for settled status in October 2023 (based on your continuous residence period starting in June 2018).
I could not move to the UK by 31 December 2020 because of Covid-19, can I still qualify?
If you were intending to move to the UK by 31 December 2020 but were unable to do so because of the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately you will not be able to apply for EUSS status as you were not living in the UK by the cut-off date (unless you are coming to the UK as a sponsored joining family member in which case you can moved to the UK at any time – see the section on Family members who do not live with you in the UK at the moment).
If you want to come and live in the UK, for example for want to work or study, you must make an application for a visa under the new immigration system. EU citizens do not need a visa to visit the UK for up to 6 months, but please be aware that since April 2025, the Home Office requires EU visitors to the UK to obtain Electronic Travel Authorisation before travelling to the UK. See our section on Electronic Travel Authorisation for more information.
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This site offers information about Brexit, how it may impact you as an EU citizen and your family living in the UK, and what you may need to do next. It summarises key issues and is purely for information purposes and has no legal force. It does not provide any legal interpretation of EU or UK legislation and is not meant to replace specialised legal advice on UK immigration rules.