Moving from pre-settled to settled status – Automation

What is “automation”? 

In January 2025 the Home Office introduced a new EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) process to move pre-settled status holders to settled status “automatically”. This means that in some cases pre-settled status holder do not need to apply to “upgrade” to settled status, as the Home Office grants them settled status under an automated process without any need for an application. As explained below, the Home Office contacts (usually by email) pre-settled status holders who are being assessed for an automated grant of settled status and will contact them again, once a decision has been made either the grant settled status, or to confirm that an automatic grant could not be made. Pre-settled status holders who cannot be automatically grant settled status are given a pre-settled status holders extension for five years.

When are pre-settled status holders assessed for an automatic upgrade?

Currently the Home Office applies the automated process to pre-settled status holders who are approaching the “expiry date” of their existing pre-settled status. This process usually begins about 1-2 months before the expiry date when the Home Office sends a notification to the pre-settled status holder (usually by email). The sequence of the notifications from the Home Office is as follows: 

1. About 1-2 months before the pre-settled status expiry date the Home Office automatically extends the pre-settled status by five years. 
2. The Home Office then notifies the pre-settled status holder that they are being assessed for an automatic upgrade to settled status. 
3. The Home Office notifies the pre-settled status holder of the outcome of the automated assessment and either: 
   • Grants them settled status (which replaces the extension of pre-settled status). 
   • Notifies them that they cannot be granted settled status which means the pre-settled status extension continues to apply. 

You can see in this graphic how the automation process works (the graphic covers both the current approach and future planned changes to the automation process).

Which pre-settled status holders can be automatically upgraded? 

It is important to understand that the automation process only works for pre-settled status holders who satisfy all the following conditions: 

• You are approaching the expiry date of the pre-settled status (as this event is needed to trigger the automation process);
• You are an EU / EEA / Swiss citizen who moved to the UK by 31 December 2020; 
• You are over 18 years old;
• You have National Insurance records (based on HMRC / DWP checks) that show you have been continuously resident in the UK for at least five years. 
• You have not been absent from the UK for five continuous years after completing your five-year continuous residence period. 

Although the qualifying criteria for settled status is based on five years continuous residence, the automated process is limited to checking National Insurance records. This means that only some pre-settled status holders who have been continuously resident for five years will benefit from the automation process. As explained below, those who do not have sufficient National Insurance records must make an application to be granted settled status.

It is also important to note that at the current time the automation process assesses five years continuous residence based on six months in any 12-month period and not under the new absence approach of 30 months in the most recent 60 months (you can read about the new rule in the section Moving from pre-settled to settled status – Absences). The Home Office has indicated that in the future the automation process will apply the of 30 months in the most recent 60 months residence criteria though there is no confirmed date when this will begin. The process will still rely on National Insurance records. 

Which pre-settled status holders cannot be automatically upgraded? 

In an application for settled status, the Home Office will consider the following sources of residence evThere are some pre-settled status holders who cannot be automatically upgraded under any circumstances (even if they have sufficient National Insurance records). These are: 

• non-EEA family members (resident in the UK by 31 December 2020)
• joining family members (of any nationality who arrived in the UK on or after 1 January 2021)
• children under the age of 18
• status granted on the basis of ‘derivative rights’
• those relying on ‘retained rights of residence’

The reason that pre-settled status holders in the above situations cannot be automatically granted settled status, is because the qualifying criteria is more complicated than just assessing if they have been continuously resident in the UK for five years. For example, to qualify for settled status family members must have five years of continuous residence sponsored by an EU / EEA / Swiss citizen. But because the automated process cannot assess if the family relationship that provides the sponsorship has existed for five years, it is not possible to automatically upgrade a family member to settled status. Instead, the family member must apply for settled status so that a Home Office caseworker can assess the family relationship with their EU / EEA / Swiss sponsor, as well as confirm the five years of continuous residence. 

Note that even though any pre-settled status holders in the above circumstances cannot be automatically upgraded, the Home Office still sends notifications to all pre-settled status holders telling them they are being assessed for an automatic upgrade. This is misleading, as pre-settled status holders in the above circumstances will always fail the automatic assessment and so are not really being considered for an automatic upgrade. Therefore, if you have pre-settled status holders and meet one of the above circumstances, you can disregard any Home Office notifications about the automatic process as you will have your pre-settled status automatically extended by five years (and can apply for settled status once you qualify). 

What should I do if I am not automatically upgraded to settled status?

If you are informed that you will not be automatically upgraded to settled status, you are entitled to request a manual review of this outcome. This means a Home Office caseworker will review the outcome of the automated process by assessing your National Insurance records. To request a review, you must contact the Home Office Resolution Centre. The Home Office EUSS caseworker guidance states you should receive the outcome of the manual review within one month of making the review request. Note that the review is not assessing whether you have been resident in the UK for five continuous years, but only whether the automatic decision based on your National Insurance records was the correct one. Therefore, requesting a review is only likely to benefit you if you have complete National Insurance records covering five continuous years in the UK.

For pre-settled status holders who do not have five continuous years of National Insurance records and / or are in one of the categories who cannot be automatically upgraded to settled status, if you want to be granted settled status you will need to make a manual application. You can read more about applying for settled status in the section How do I apply for settled status or pre-settled status? (note that you are not a late applicant because you already hold pre-settled status). You should also read about the continuous residence rules for pre-settled status holders upgrading to settled status in the section Moving from pre-settled to settled status – Absences. 

As there is no obligation on a pre-settled status holder to apply for settled status, you can continue to rely on your five-year automatic extension of pre-settled status as evidence of your legal rights in the UK. Based on the current Home Office approach, you would be reassessed under the automatic process near to the end of your pre-settled status extension, at which time you would either be granted settled status or your pre-settled status would be extended again. However, it is possible that the Home Office will change policy in the coming years and therefore, it is recommended to apply for settled status once you qualify, as a grant of settled status provides confirmation of your right to live in the UK on a permanent basis. 

Is it possible to “wrongly” be automatically upgraded to settled status?

It is possible – if quite a rare occurrence – that some pre-settled status holders could be upgraded to settled status, even though they have not been continuously resident in the UK for five years. This could happen if the pre-settled status holder has been making National Insurance contributions in periods when they were not living in the UK (e.g. making PAYE tax contributions through a UK employer but not living in the UK). As the automated process does not ask the pre-settled status holder if they meet the qualifying conditions to be granted settled status before making the grant, there is no way of declining an automatic grant of settled status. As such, pre-settled status holders granted settled status are entitled to rely on this grant even if it seems to be the “wrong” outcome. 

Will the automation process change in the future? 

As noted above, the Home Office intends to update the automation process to apply both the six months in 12-month residence rules and the 30 months in the most recent 60 months rules. The automation process will continue to rely on National Insurance records to assess if the pre-settled status hold satisfies either of the continuous residence rules. 

It is understood that the Home Office also intends to simplify the automation process so that pre-settled status holders only receive one decision, rather than the current process where there are effectively two decisions; the first decision to extend all pre-settled statuses by five years and then a second decision, on either upgrading to settled status or to maintain the pre-settled status extension. In the future the Home Office intends to make one decision to either upgrade to settled status or to grant a five pre-settled status extension. 

The Home Office policy statement on the automation process indicates in the future there could be changes to address situations where, “a pre-settled status holder no longer meets the conditions of their pre-settled status, for example because they have not remained continuously resident in the UK”. It is understood this refers to the possibility of removing the pre-settled status although at this stage, there is no further information about how the policy will work. 

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