What is the difference between 'Settled Status' and 'Pre-Settled Status'?

• Pages: 11-12

11

What you need to know as a non-EU citizen living in the UK

if you have, or had, a family connection to an EU citizen

4 What is the dierence between ‘Settled Status’

and ‘Pre-Settled Status’?

As long as you meet the family-relationship criteria

to be eligible to make an application to the Scheme,

what determines the status you will be given is how

long you have been resident in the UK and for how

long you have been (or were) a family member.

Applicants who have been continually resident in the

UK for at least 5 years should get ‘Settled Status’8.

However, time spent in the UK before becoming a

family member does not count towards the 5-year

residence (e.g. if you held a student visa before

marrying an EU citizen, the time before your marriage

would not count).The 5-year residence in the UK

does not always need to have been in the most

recent 5 years, as some non-EU citizens who have

previously lived in the UK for 5 years may apply for

‘Settled Status’ even if they do not live in the UK any

more. As explained above, your 5 years of qualifying

residence do not need to be in the same category, as

you can combine periods of residence under dif‌ferent

categories. For example, an applicant could start

of‌f as a spouse and then become a family member

with a retained right of residence after a divorce; a

combination of the two categories can be used to

build the 5-year qualifying residence required. If you

are a child under 21 years old you will be granted

‘Settled Status’ if one of your parents is granted this

status even if you have not lived in the UK for 5 years.

Those who have lived in the UK for less than 5 years

will have to apply for temporary ‘Pre-Settled Status’.

This will allow them to stay in the UK and apply for

‘Settled Status’ once they achieve the 5 years of

8There are some categories under which an applicant can be granted

‘Settled Status’ with less than 5 years’ UK residence, for example if their

sponsoring EU citizen family member meets the conditions of the

‘ceased activity’ category.