Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) the suitability requirements, and (2) the threshold of criminality, for the EU Settlement Scheme apply to children; and if so, (a) how, and (b) what type of offences will be taken into account.

Applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme under the age of 18 are not required to answer questions relating to suitability. Applicants under the age of 10 are not subject to the automated criminal record check.

The suitability requirements for the scheme apply to all applicants under the age of 18. However, under the relevant provisions of the Immigration (European Economic Area Regulations) 2016, children under the age of 18 benefit from a higher level of protection and can only be deported on imperative grounds of public security.

There is no single definition of the type of offences likely to satisfy this higher threshold, but offences with a cross-border dimension which disclose particularly serious characteristics are more likely to do so.