Understanding Your Status as an EU Citizen after Brexit

Back in June 2016, the nation was taken by storm when citizens of the UK decided to part ways with the European Union. Following this historic decision, the term ‘Brexit’ came to the fore—an amalgamation of “Britain and “Exit.”

This decision is expected to have far-reaching consequences. Europe continues to be one of the biggest sources of foreign direct investment for Britain, and many major companies, including Airbus, have thought of relocating.

How does the decision affect citizens, though? Let’s see:

Citizen status

Things have definitely changed for UK residents who natively belong to a country in the European Union. Post-Brexit, they must re-apply to maintain their permission to stay in the UK. The same law also applies to family members of EU citizens.

There are three different ways to go about this:

1. You can apply for the ‘EU Settlement Scheme.’Under this scheme, you can either acquire ‘settled’ or ‘pre-settled’ status.
2. You can apply for British nationality.
3. You will be excluded from needing to follow this procedure if you’re already a British or Irish national.

How does the ‘settled’ status help you?

After you’ve acquired the ‘settled’ or ‘pre-settled’ status with the settlement scheme, you’ll be legally allowed to reside in the UK for more than three months. Furthermore, you can also work, study, or rent a house in the UK. As an added bonus, you also qualify for state pension, pension credit, housing benefits, and use the National Health Service.

Anyone can apply for this scheme—free of cost. Please note that no applications will be entertained after December 31^st, 2020. In order to qualify, it’s also important that you don’t have a past record of being convicted or imprisoned.

If you have any further other questions about the immigration process in the UK or need any sort of assistance in applying for the settlement scheme, reach out. Wembley Solicitors is home to UK immigration law experts who will be glad to assist.