UK Government EU Settlement Scheme

Dear Agency Worker,

The new year brings in a new era around Right to Work (RTW) for European nationals, our HR records, have identified you as either an EU* (excluding British and Irish), EEA** (European Economic Area Country), or a Swiss citizen*** and therefore we want to remind you of your obligation under the new UK Government EU Settlement Scheme.

Given the recent government negotiations and update on Brexit, we are taking the opportunity to write to you, to remind you about what you need to be doing to secure your right to keep living and working in the UK. We do not have any further specific information about your situation in the UK, but I wanted to write to you personally today, to draw your attention to the UK Government’s settled status application process. Since March 2020, the Government has continued to promote its campaign to encourage EU nationals likely to be affected by Brexit, to secure their right to keep living and working in the UK after the 31st December 2020 by obtaining ‘settled status’ or ‘pre-settled status’.

The application process has been active since the end of March 2019 and this will remain open until 30 June 2021. Applicants who have lived continuously in the UK for five years will be eligible for settled status, and those with less than five years’ residence will be eligible for pre-settled status. Please do not rely on the content of this letter to determine your next steps. Many of you may have already taken the necessary steps to apply for either settled or pre-settled status but if you have not already done so I would encourage you to visit the Government website for guidance around whether you need to apply for settled status.

I would also strongly advise you to regularly re-check the Government guidance in the future as timings and requirements may change moving forward. For those applying for ‘pre-settled’ status (i.e. individuals who have been resident in the UK less than 5 years), you are reminded that this will only be valid for 5 years and it is your responsibility to apply for ‘settled status’ before this expires. Your expiry date will be visible through the government portal and individuals should, once they have initially applied for ‘pre-settled- status ensure they are regularly logging in to track this. You should also ensure that all your details held by gov.uk remain up to date to avoid any unnecessary delays to your application process.

Once your ‘settled’ or ‘pre-settled status’ has been confirmed you can access your immigration status online via Government website and obtain a ‘share code’ which you will need to share with us , to confirm your status. For those of you who may have already applied and had your status confirmed, but not obtained a share code, we would encourage you to do so. Similarly, if you have applied but are still waiting for confirmation of your status, we would ask you to advise us that this is the case by emailing to advise.

This continues to be a complex time for all who have made the UK their home and now have to apply for settlement status, therefore want to encourage you to seek advice on the Government’s website as a matter of urgency.

Kind regards
A24 Group Compliance Team