Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance has been issued to her officials on interpreting reasonable grounds for late applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme for people who only become aware of their undocumented status in future years.

In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, there remains scope, indefinitely, for a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to make a late application to the scheme where there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them.

The Home Office published non-exhaustive guidance on 1 April 2021 on what may constitute such reasonable grounds, to underpin a flexible and pragmatic approach to considering late applications to the EUSS in light of the circumstances of each case. This includes, for example, where a person establishes, when they first apply to work or study in the UK, an application to the scheme was not made on their behalf years earlier when they were a child by a parent, guardian or Local Authority. The latest version of the guidance is available at pages 30 to 48 here:

EUSS casework guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk).

The guidance makes clear applicants will be given the benefit of any doubt in considering whether, in light of information provided with the application, there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them under the EUSS, unless this would not be reasonable in light of the particular circumstances of the case.

Any change in approach will be reflected in a revision of the guidance.