0.8m applications from non-EU nationals to the ‘EU Settlement Scheme’, to live in UK

Nationals of 176 non-EU countries have submitted applications to the Home Office

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025

Apart from EU citizens residing in UK, applications came from other nationals all over the world

In this second part of our ‘UK immigration from the EU’ series, we reveal the astonishing number of applications from non-EU nationals for settlement in the UK, dealt with by the Home Office under the ‘EU Settlement Scheme’ (EUSS).

The total number of applications from non-EU nationals applying to reside permanently in the UK was an astonishing 790,993, as at the end of September 2024.

The British public may have assumed that an ‘EU Settlement Scheme’ would involve only EU nationals, and furthermore that these would be EU nationals who had already moved to the UK while the United Kingdom was still a member of the European Union. Given that such people moved to the UK perfectly legally and set up home, it would be accepted that these people have the right to remain.

In this report we look at applications under the EUSS from non-EU nationals.

How can non-EU nationals apply under the ‘EU’ Settlement Scheme?

The main rules of this scheme (EUSS) apply to EU nationals living in the UK by 31 December 2020. Those who can prove they have lived in the UK for five years by that date get ‘Settled Status’. Those who have been in the UK for less time get an interim ‘Pre-Settled Status’, which can be upgraded once they hit the five year mark.

However, more people are eligible provided they have a connection to an EU citizen. For the most part this relates to family members. Bizarrely, although EU citizens are supposed to have been resident in the UK by 31 December 2020, the eligibility criteria for family members seems to be looser.

Family members do not have to be citizens of either the EU, EEA or Switzerland – they can hail from any country in the world. They can also apply after the supposed ‘deadline’ which was set and agreed by the EU as being 30 June 2021. It seems all they have to do is to prove that their relationship with an EU or EEA citizen still exists at the date they apply.

The ‘close family members’ - to use the term in the scheme - include spouses, civil partners, unmarried partners, dependant children and grandchildren, dependant parents and grandparents, and children born or adopted after 31 December 2020. (The date the UK finally left the EU.)

Countries from which these applicants are coming

As part of this investigation Facts4EU was able to identify the full range of countries from which applicants outside the EU originated. An astonishing 176 countries and small states are represented.

It seems surprising that citizens from 27 EU countries have ‘close family’ members who come from 176 countries around the world, but this is what the Home Office has recorded.

Below is the full list, ordered by the number of applications from each country's nationals

There was only one way to bring home the fact that nationals from 176 countries have applied under the 'EU' Settlement Scheme and that was to list them all. The countries are listed by order of the number of applications from people from that country.

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2025 - click to enlarge
{Source : UK Home Office, data up to end-Sept 2024.]

Coming up…

In part III of this ‘UK immigration from the EU’ series, we will switch from the demand side (the volume of applications) to the supply side (analysis of those who have actually been approved by the Home Office to reside in the UK.) Once again, the reality of what has happened is quite extraordinary.

[ Sources: UK Home Office ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Wed 26 Feb 2025

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