Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2017 to Question 3560, whether non-UK EU nationals who acquire settled status but are then absent for more than two consecutive years from the UK will lose their settled status without any right to return other than under UK immigration rules applying to other non-UK citizens or future immigration rules applying to non-UK EU citizens.
As set out in paragraph 20 of the Government’s policy paper (Cm 9464), settled status would generally be lost if a person was absent from the UK for more than two years, unless they have strong ties here.
We will publish more details of the new scheme, including details of eligibility criteria and the definition of strong ties, in due course once an agreement has been reached.