Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing individuals to provide a physical proof of residency for applications under the EU Settlement Scheme.

The Home Office seeks to process all applications to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) as swiftly as possible.

Details of the processing times can be found on the GOV.UK website – (EU Settlement Scheme: current estimated processing times for applications - GOV.UK) which advises on expected processing times and common reasons why an application may take longer to conclude.

As it is now more than four years since the deadline to apply to the main scheme, the majority of applications are from people who already hold an initial grant of pre-settled status who are seeking settled status. To improve customer service we have introduced an automated process to automatically convert eligible pre-settled status holders to settled status, without the need for them to make a further application.

The EUSS automation process reduces the burden on tens of thousands of customers and supports our ambition to ensure people have the right EUSS status.

The EU Settlement Scheme was the first fully digital immigration route. As such, customers provide evidence to support their applications online, rather than sending in physical evidence. This approach ensures that applicants can retain their key documents.