Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether European Economic Area nationals who apply late to the EU Settlement Scheme will be permitted to have the right to work and rent while their applications are pending.

From 1 July, right to work and right to rent checks will change and EEA citizens will be required to demonstrate eligibility through evidence of their immigration status, rather than their nationality.

EEA citizens who have an outstanding, late application to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and do not have any other form of immigration leave will not be permitted to take up new employment or enter into a new tenancy agreement until they have been granted status under the EUSS.

We have designed a process to ensure employers do not have to cease the employment of an individual who has been working for them since before the end of the grace period, who makes a late application.

Likewise, a landlord is not required to evict an existing tenant who no longer has lawful status in the UK, but they must make a report via GOV.UK to the Home Office, to maintain their statutory excuse.

A person granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme on the basis of a late application will have the same rights from the date they are granted status, as a person who applied by the deadline. This includes their right to work and right to rent.