Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EEA citizens, who are not covered as part of the withdrawal agreement, will be able to apply for settled status.

As I set out in my Oral Statement on the EU Settlement Scheme on 21 June and in responding to questions on it (column 508-520), the online application process for the scheme will be short, simple and user-friendly. It will be accessible through a computer, tablet or smartphone, and the optional app for identity verification will be accessible on compatible devices. More information will be published in due course about the locations which applicants will also be able to visit to use the app or be helped to do so, and about the customer contact centre which will be established to help applicants through the process and how that centre will operate.

I also confirmed that we intend that the settlement scheme described in the Statement of Intent I published yesterday will be open to citizens of the other European Economic Area states (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland, and their family members, on a similar basis as for EU citizens.

Consistent with the draft Withdrawal Agreement, the draft Immigration Rules for the scheme contained in the Statement of Intent reflect the provision made by the Free Movement Directive for victims of domestic abuse to retain their right of residence following the termination of their marriage or civil partnership, so they will not need to rely on their former spouse or civil partner in order to obtain UK immigration status under the scheme. Also, consistent with the draft agreement, the draft Rules contain requirements as to suitability which reflect the application of the current EU public policy tests to conduct before the end of the implementation period on 31 December 2020 and do not provide for paragraph 322(5) of the Immigration Rules to apply to applications made under the scheme.