The purpose of this app is to help establish whether you or your client are eligible to apply for settled status or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

If you successfully apply for settled status this means that:

• You have the right to travel in and out of the UK and to remain in the UK permanently; regardless of whether you are exercising treaty rights in the UK. This means that you do not have to demonstrate that you are a student, working, self-employed, job-seeking or self-sufficient to remain in the UK.
• You can access and apply for healthcare, education, pensions and benefits on the same basis as a UK national. You will be subject to the same eligibility requirements as a UK national, but cannot be denied access to such benefits on the basis of your immigration status alone.
• You can engage in business, take or change employment, or be self-employed without the need for permission from a Government department.
• You can apply for British citizenship after living in the UK for one year from when you are granted settled status.
• If you have a child that is born in the UK whilst you are living here, they will automatically be a British citizen.
• You will lose your settled status if you spend 5 years or more outside the UK at one time (although if you’re a Swiss citizen, you and your family can only spend up to 4 years in a row outside the UK before losing your settled status).
• Your close family members can join you in the UK before 31 December 2020 (or before 31 December 2025 if you’re a Swiss citizen) but they will need to apply under the EU Settlement Scheme. There are certain conditions under which they can join you after 31 December 2020, but you should write to us for specific advice on this question.

If you successfully apply for pre-settled status this means that:

• You have the right to remain in the UK for five years.
• You do not have to be exercising treaty rights to remain in the UK. This means that you do not have to demonstrate that you are a student, working, self-employed, job-seeking or self-sufficient to remain in the UK.
• When you have been in the UK for five years, as long as you have not been outside the UK for six months in any of these years, you can then apply for settled status, even if this happens after 31 December 2020.
• You can spend up to 2 years in a row outside the UK without losing your status (although you should avoid absences of 6 months or more if you hope to eventually apply for settled status, unless there is an important reason for the absence).
• If you have a child in the UK, they will automatically be eligible for pre-settled status (they will generally only be a British citizen if they qualify for this through their other parent who has British citizenship or settled status themselves).
• You will not automatically be eligible to claim benefits or access healthcare, education and pensions in the UK. You must still demonstrate that you are exercising a ‘qualifying right to reside’ i.e. that you have permanent residence, worker, self-employed or retained worker status, that you are the family member of an EU national in one of these categories, or that you are the primary carer of an EEA national worker’s child in education.