Those who have a pre-settled status can switch to settled status after they have lived in the UK for five years in a row. One can apply for British citizenship once they have settled status for 12 months.
If one does not switch to settled status, the pre-settled status will be extended by five years shortly before it is due to expire. The Home Office may cancel the extension if they think that you no longer meet the requirements, for example, if you have been outside the UK for more than six months in a twelve-month period.
We advise to switch to settled status as soon as one is eligible, and the five years is counted from the day one started a continuous residence, not the day that one was granted pre-settled status.
But what happens if an applicant did not make an in time application for settled status as everybody had to make an application under the EU Settlement Scheme by 30 June 2021?
One can only apply to the Scheme after this deadline if they have good reasons for making a late application and our client was in a difficult position because she acquired permanent residency in the UK in August 2018. With the onset of Covid she travelled outside the UK where she remained until 2021. By December 2021 she returned to the UK and left the UK, we were instructed to make the application for her under the EU Settlement Scheme whilst she was abroad and after the deadline.
In 2024, we made this application demonstrating that it is her intention to return to the UK, live and work here and demonstrating that she has not been absent from the UK for a consecutive period of five years since she acquired permanent residency as she returned to the UK regularly. We proved that she did not make an in time application for settled status due to her health conditions and we managed to demonstrate that the late application for settled status came within the reasonable grounds below.
The Home Office provides for "reasonable grounds" for late applications and their Guidelines set out the wide range of circumstances which would constitute reasonable grounds. The Home Office guidance states that there remains scope indefinitely for persons eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme to make late applications to the Scheme if there are reasonable grounds for the delay in making the application. Where a person who has failed to meet the deadline applicable to them wish to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme on or after 9 August 2023, they must make an application under Appendix EU stating their grounds for the delay in making the application.
The relevant legal test in all cases is, whether on the balance of probabilities and based on all the information and evidence provided by the applicant, or otherwise available, the Immigration Officer is satisfied that on the date of the application there are reasonable grounds for the person's delay in making the application under the EU Settlement Scheme. In general, the more time which has elapsed since the deadline applicable to the person under Scheme, the harder it will be for them to satisfy that at the date of the application there are reasonable grounds for the delay in making the application.
We managed to provide objective variable evidence to satisfy the Secretary of State that there were reasonable grounds for the applicant's delay in making her application to the Scheme. We managed to demonstrate multiple factors weighing in favour of the applicant which constitutes sufficiently strong reasons for the delay in making the application and it became obvious that on the balance of probabilities she had reasonable grounds for her delay in making the application.