Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the clarity of the updated caseworker guidance for processing late applications for the EU Settlement Scheme from people with permanent residency cards.

The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) caseworker guidance was updated on 16 January in light of operational experience and stakeholder feedback regarding the assessment of reasonable grounds for applying late to the EUSS.

The updated guidance now addresses circumstances where a person may have had a reasonable belief they did not need to apply earlier to the EUSS, or a reasonable basis for being unaware they needed to apply. This may include where they had been issued with a permanent residence document under the EEA Regulations, which implemented free movement law in the UK.