Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the exemption criteria for the EU Settlement Scheme, in the context of the exceptional circumstances faced by some applicants during the covid-19 pandemic.

There is already significant flexibility available to those applying to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) whose circumstances have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, they can be absent from the UK for a period of up to 12 months without breaking their continuity of residence where this is for an important reason, which can include COVID-19.

The relevant published guidance, which provides for further flexibility for EUSS applicants who would otherwise have broken their continuous qualifying period of residence in the UK because of COVID-19, is available at:

www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-eu-settlement-scheme-guidance-for-applicants