London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

EU citizens in UK face 28-day notice if they miss settled status deadline

EU citizens in UK face 28-day notice if they miss settled status deadline

Tens of thousands to be issued with warnings to submit applications for post-Brexit scheme or risk losing rights
Tens of thousands of EU citizens living in the UK will be issued with a formal 28-day notice if they have failed to apply for post-Brexit settled status within a week, the government has warned.

The notices will tell them to submit an application or risk consequences which include losing their rights to healthcare and employment.

With a week to go before the Wednesday 30 June deadline for the EU settlement scheme, the Home Office is redoubling efforts to reach those who do not know about the rule change, including vulnerable groups such as elderly people and children in care.

Immigration minister Kevin Foster said it had ruled out extending the deadline despite a huge surge in applications, now running at 10,000 to 12,000 a day.

“Put simply, extending the deadline is not the solution to reaching those people who have not yet applied, and we would just be in a position further down the line where we would be asked to extend again, creating more uncertainties,” he said.

However, he said EU citizens who had had failed to apply by the deadline would not see their social welfare benefits cut off from 1 July and promised the Home Office would be flexible and lenient.

The Home Office has had 5.6m settled status applications from EU citizens including some repeats. Officials revealed a backlog of 400,000 which may take until the end of the summer to process.

It has received 1.5m helpline calls and 500,000 requests for help through an online contact form – an indication of the unprecedented scale of the exercise and the challenges many are facing.

To accommodate those who will not have a decision for months, the government will issue a “certificate of application” which all applicants can “rely on as proof to access their right to work or rent”, Foster said. It can also be used to access the NHS. “People will not lose their benefits next week,” Foster told members of a House of Lords committee.

In a briefing to reporters on Tuesday, the Home Office said it would work with individuals to find out their reasons for not applying rather than deport them.

“We’ll set up the support available and we’ll signpost people to make an application, but we do recognise that there may be some people who, after that 28 days, still haven’t been able to make an application, and then I think we would want to work with them to understand why that is the case, and then support them again to make the application,” said an official.

The flexible approach is not expected to be permanent, however, and under immigration rules EU citizens who make late applications will have to provide “reasonable grounds” for not applying. Among those set to be issued with a 28-day notice are EU citizens unable to evidence their right to work, who might be identified by immigration enforcement teams making checks on employers.

The Home Office said the NHS will continue to be available to those who have certificate of application and “urgent treatment” would never be refused.

It warned that employers or landlords do not have to do retrospective checks on their workers and those who reject future workers or tenants on the grounds that they have not yet been granted official post-Brexit status can be sued on discrimination grounds.

The new rules were brought in as a result of the UK’s departure from the EU and are designed to protect those already living in the UK and British citizens already settled in the EU when Brexit came into force on 1 January this year.

The Home Office said it was concerned that British nationals were facing issues in relation to reciprocal residency rights in some EU countries including Bulgaria, Italy and Portugal and had raised this with the EU ambassador on Tuesday.

Part of the government’s policy is driven by the Brexit pledge to “take back control” of the borders and reduce immigration.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×