Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EU students with pre-settled status who are isolating themselves in other EU countries as a result of covid-19 and who are continuing their UK education will be exempted from the continuous residence requirement of no more than six months outside of the UK every 12 months when applying for settled status in the future.

In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 remains the point by which EU citizens need to be resident in the UK to be eligible in their own right for the EU Settlement Scheme.

Where a person with pre-settled status under the scheme is absent from the UK for an important reason, such as serious illness, for a single period of up to 12 months, they can still maintain the continuity of UK residence required for settled status.

Further guidance for applicants to the scheme who have been affected by illness or travel restrictions due to Covid-19 will be published shortly.