Whilst debates about the details of how we will leave the EU continue on, the law affecting who can remain in the UK after June 2021 have now come into effect.

Anyone in your team, or who you are considering employing, who does not hold British or Irish citizenship will need to apply for EU Settled Status if they wish to remain beyond June 2021.

The deadline for applying is 30th June 2021, but if Britain leaves the EU without a deal, the deadline will move forward to 31st December 2020.

Those with under five years residence will be able to apply for pre-settled status before switching to settled status when they reach the five year mark. The Home Office will make criminality checks for both of these applications (Source: REC).

To be eligible to apply for settled status, EU citizens, plus those from European Economic Area (EEA) countries - Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - or people whose family members are from these countries, will need to have lived in the UK for five years by December 2020.

The only non-British or Irish citizens who do NOT need to apply are those who have indefinite leave to enter, or remain in, the UK, or who are from EU / EEA countries or Switzerland and arrived before 1973.

People who have dual British / Irish and other citizenship do not need to apply.

How Do Your Staff Know if They Need to Apply?

There is a useful guide of the stages of application on the UK Government website.

The steps for people considering applying are:

1) Check if they need to apply
2) Find out what status they’ll get - either settled or pre-settled status, depending on the length of time they have lived in the UK
3) Check what they need to apply
4) Apply
5) Find out what happens after application

It is free to apply for Settled Status. Anyone who has paid a fee to apply will automatically get it refunded.

We always check that candidates applying for permanent or temporary roles have the right permits to allow them to work in the UK.

If you use temps provided by Priority Appointments who need to apply, we will be on hand to offer support, using guidance set out by our professional body, the Recruitment and Employers Confederation (REC). The REC website has a Brexit hub which summarises the likely different outcomes in the event of a deal or no-deal Brexit.

To find out more, contact your account manager, or email us

at office@priorityappointments.co.uk.



Please note: we are not able to offer legal advice about specific cases.