What are my rights whilst I am waiting for my EU settlement scheme decision?

What rights to do I have if I have made a valid EUSS application?

The Withdrawal Agreement provides protection to all EU citizens and family members in the UK, who have applied to the Home Office for confirmation of the post-Brexit residence rights. This means whilst you are waiting for a decision from the Home Office on your EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) application, you should be able to continue living in the UK in the same way that you have done up until now. However, organisations such as employers, landlords in England, banks, universities and government departments (like the NHS and the DWP), may need to check that you have made an application to the EUSS. The reason for these checks is to identify EU citizens and family members who are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement whilst waiting for an EUSS outcome, as your rights are different from EU citizens who moved to the UK after free movement ended under the UK’s domestic immigration system. 

How do I prove that I applied to the EUSS and have rights? 

Once the Home Office confirms that your EUSS application is valid, they will issue you a “certificate of application” which proves that you have applied to the EUSS. To validate your application the Home Office must confirm your identity and nationality and if your applying late to the EUSS, your reason for missing the application deadline must be accepted by the Home Office (see the section How do I apply late to the EU settlement scheme?). 

Once your application is validated you will receive the certificate of application (a PDF document) which confirms you have a pending EUSS application. This pending status will be reflected in the UKVI account that has been created when you applied to the EUSS. You can use the UKVI account to generate “share codes” which are used to access your rights whilst you wait for the outcome of your EUSS application (e.g. if you apply for a new job your prospective employer will asks you to show you have the right to work in the UK; you can give the employer a share code which proves you have permission to work). 

What about if I applied late to the EUSS?

The Withdrawal Agreement provides protection to all those who have made valid applications to the EUSS, including those who have reasonable grounds for applying late. Therefore, late EUSS applicants will also be issued with certificate of application by the Home Office once their application has been validated (i.e. once the Home Office has assessed the reason(s) for missing the deadline and accepted that the late application is justified). This means that those who have missed the deadline for good reason still have the right to work, study and to access NHS etc, whilst they are waiting for the Home Office to issue a decision. Therefore, organisations and government departments should accept your certificate of application as proof of your rights whilst you are waiting for a decision, even if you applied late.

If the Home Office does not accept you have reasonable grounds for making a late application, it will be rejected without validation meaning that no certificate of application is issued. This outcome means that you do not have any protection or rights in the UK which is very serious. You should read the heading “What happens if my reasons are not accepted my reasons and my application is rejected?” in section How do I apply late to the EU settlement scheme?, to understand what steps you can take if your late application is rejected.  

What happens if my EUSS application is refused? 

The Withdrawal Agreement protections for EUSS applicants continue to apply if your application is refused by the Home Office, if you are seeking a review of the refusal decision by administrative review of appeal. You can read more about how to challenge a refusal decision in the section What happens if my EU settlement scheme application is refused?.

If your EUSS refusal decision becomes “final”, either because have chosen not to challenge the Home Office refusal decision or, the refusal decision is upheld on administrative review and/or appeal, then the rights attached to your certificate of application will end. This means you will no longer be able to generate share codes from your UKVI account. If your EUSS application refusal becomes final, we recommend speaking to a qualified and regulated adviser about your situation to understand the immigration implications. We have provided more information about finding a qualified legal adviser in the section Where can I find regulated immigration advice?.

Can I travel outside the UK whilst my EUSS application is pending? 

Unfortunately, travelling on a certificate of application is a complicated area, as the Home Office applies different policies depending on the situation of the EUSS applicant. It is therefore very important to read this information carefully if you are planning to travel outside the UK before the outcome of your EUSS application. 

The first point to note is that the UK Government and the EU Commission disagree about the interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement, in respect of whether a person with a certificate of application holds a protected right to travel in and out of the UK whilst their EUSS application is pending. The UK Government position (as set out in the Home Office Border Force Guidance), is that there is no right under the Withdrawal Agreement to travel in and out of the UK with a certificate of application (this means that where the Home Office allows travel on a certificate of application, in their view this a domestic UK policy only not a Withdrawal Agreement protected right). The EU Commission believes that the right of travel in and out of the UK until a final outcome on an EUSS application is protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and that a certificate of application alone provides proof of this right.  The Impendent Monitoring Authority view is that the right of travel in and out of the UK for pending EUSS applicants is a Withdrawal Protected right, however, a certificate of application alone may not be sufficient proof of this rights and so additional evidence may be required. 

So as can be seen, there is disagreement on several points in respect of travelling on a certificate of application. Therefore, what matters in practical terms is the policy applied by Border Force at the UK border, which is set out in their guidance and explained below (note that continuous residence is explained in the section How does continuous residence work? : 

• EU citizen resident by 31 December 2020 with a valid in-time EUSS application: You should be entitled to enter the UK using your certificate of application by itself, unless Border Force has doubts about you being resident by 31 December 2020 and / or there are doubts whether you have maintained continuous residence. If your EUSS application has been refused and you have a pending out of country appeal, then you may be required to show Border Force evidence that you were resident by 31 December 2020 and you have maintained continuous residence.

• Non-EU citizen family member resident by 31 December 2020 with a valid in time EUSS application and a document issued under the EEA Regulations (‘valid’ or expired): You should be entitled to enter the UK if your EUSS application is based on the same family relationship that you were issued a document under the EEA Regulations for. This is unless Border Force has doubts about you being resident by 31 December 2020 and / or there are doubts whether you have maintained continuous residence. If your EUSS application has been refused and you have a pending out of country appeal, then you may be required to show Border Force evidence that you were resident by 31 December 2020 and you have maintained continuous residence.

• Non-EU citizen family member resident by 31 December 2020 with a valid in time EUSS application but no document issued under the EEA Regulations: You should be entitled to enter the UK if you can show Border Force evidence that you were resident by 31 December 2020, that you have maintained continuous residence and your family relationship is accepted. This includes if your EUSS application has been refused and you have a pending administrative review or out of country appeal. 

• EU citizen resident by 31 December 2020 with a valid late EUSS application: You should be entitled to enter the UK if you can show Border Force evidence that you were resident by 31 December 2020 and you have maintained continuous residence. This includes if your EUSS application has been refused and you have a pending administrative review or out of country appeal. 

• Non-EU citizen family member resident by 31 December 2020 with a valid late EUSS application: You should be entitled to enter the UK if you can show Border Force evidence that you were resident by 31 December 2020, that you have maintained continuous residence and your family relationship is accepted. This includes if your EUSS application has been refused and you have a pending administrative review or out of country appeal. 

• EU citizen or family member with a refused in-time or late EUSS application who has made an in-country appeal that is pending with the Immigration Tribunal: you should be entitled to enter if you can show Border Force you have a pending appeal, as long as you are not entering the UK via a “juxtaposed port” (these are Eurostar and ferry terminals in France and Belgium). If you are entering via a juxtaposed port, then you will need to show evidence that you were resident by 31 December 2020 and you have maintained continuous residence (and your eligible family relationship if applicable). 

• Joining family member with an EUSS Family Permit: You should be entitled to enter the UK if you were granted an EUSS Family Permit (either valid or expired) before you applied to the EUSS. However, if your family permit is expired and your EUSS application has been refused, you may not be permitted entry even if there is a pending administrative review or out of country appeal.  

• Joining family member without an EUSS Family Permit: You will likely be refused entry to the UK. However, if your EUSS application has been refused and you have an in-country appeal pending against this decision, you can enter the UK as long as you are not entering the UK via a “juxtaposed port”. 

Note that Border force always has a discretionary power to admit a person to enter the UK, if compelling or compassionate circumstances apply. Compelling or compassionate circumstances are not defined as each individual situation will be assessed by Border Force. Examples given in the Border Force guidance are decisions that affect children or vulnerable adults with specific care or support needs. Therefore, although the above situations summarise the general approach, Border Force can allow entry even if the general policy conditions are not met. 

As can be seen, Border Force policy is very complicated and means that persons with certificates of application need to be very careful if they plan to leave the UK temporarily, or travel to the UK having applied to the EUSS from outside the UK. Despite Home Office policy allowing some certificate of application holders to re-enter the UK, the general advice from the Home Office is not to travel until the EUSS application is decided. 

If you feel that you need to travel before the outcome of your EUSS application, we recommend speaking to a qualified and regulated adviser to understand how the Border Force policy applies to your situation. We have provided more information about finding a qualified legal adviser in the section Where can I find regulated immigration advice?.

Does the introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisation have any impact on travelling with a certificate of application? 

Yes, it does have an impact, as carriers (this means airlines, Eurostar or ferry operators) need to check all persons travelling to the UK have permission from the Home Office before allowing them to “board” (travel to the UK). There are different permissions to travel to the UK which includes Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for non-visa visitors, or immigration status such as pre-settled or settled status held by long term UK residents. Carriers only need to check the passenger has a Home Office permission to travel to the UK, the carrier is not responsible for checking if the permission held by the passenger is the ‘correct’ permission covering the reason the person wants to the enter the UK, as checking the permission is correct is the job of Border Force at the UK border (e.g. Border Force will check if travellers holding an ETA are genuinely visiting, as only persons visiting the UK are permitted to travel with an ETA). 

The complication arises because certificates of application are not permission to travel to the UK and so in principle, carriers cannot accept them for the purposes of boarding UK bound passengers. This could leave holders of certificates of application stuck outside the UK if they leave, as these persons cannot apply for an ETA as the purpose of the travel to the UK is to resume their residence not to visit, which is the reason to apply for an ETA. Currently the Home Office approach to travelling with a certificate of application is to not fully enforce the permission to travel requirement on carriers. This is explained in a letter from the Home Office to the3million campaign organisation and Immigration Law Practitioners Association: 

“…enforcement under the carriers’ liability scheme is not yet in effect. At this stage, carriers are not expected to deny boarding to a passenger of ETA-eligible nationality solely because they do not hold an ETA. We are aiming to begin enforcement of ETA in 2026, and we will ensure further information and sufficient notice is provided to carriers, key stakeholders and CoA holders before this.”

This means that non-visa nationals (which includes all EU citizens), should be allowed to travel to the UK on certificates of application (though remember entering the UK at the border is determined by Border Force policy set out above). This page will be updated to reflect any change in Home Office policy for 2026 once this information is known. 

Note that if you are a sponsored family member applying to the EUSS and you are a visa national, you will not be able to travel to the UK relying on a certificate of application as this is not an acceptable visa document for carriers. This Home Office guidance to carriers explains: 

“Visa nationals who have a valid pending application to the EU Settlement Scheme are advised not to travel to the UK until their application is granted unless they hold a valid visa or visa exemption document. A Certificate of Application or Acknowledgement of Application is not satisfactory evidence of status.”

If you hold an EUSS Family Permit this is an acceptable document for carriers to accept. However, carriers are very unlikely to accept an EUSS Family Permit that has expired. 

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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.