Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has provided to people who have applied for a biometric resident card before 31 December 2020 but who have not received their card as of 18 November 2021.

Guidance for applicants about UK residence cards is set out on gov.uk:

www.gov.uk/uk-residence-card.

This explains applications for UK residence cards made by 31 December 2020 will still be considered.

As residence cards are no longer issued, this webpage also makes clear to continue living in the UK, individuals need another type of permission to stay, such as settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

Applicants are notified of this in writing with their residence card decision. The written decision sets out either their application would have succeeded but residence cards are no longer issued, or their application has been unsuccessful and informs them of any right of appeal.

The decision notice for successful applicants explains where an EUSS applicant requires a ‘relevant document’ (such as a residence card) to be eligible for EUSS status, the Home Office has implemented a concession to ensure no one who made a valid residence card application by 31 December is disadvantaged by not having such a document.

The terms of the concession are at page 30 of the ‘EU Settlement Scheme: EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members’ guidance to UKVI caseworkers which was published on 11 November 2021:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-caseworker-guidance