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    I was granted pre-settled status in 2020, but have not lived in the UK for many years now. However my online status shows that it is valid until 2030. Has my status lapsed? Can I come back to the UK to start living and working there again?

    Dealing firstly with the question of whether your status has lapsed. If you have pre-settled status and you have been continuously absent from the UK for five years or more, then the Home Office will consider that your pre-settled status has lapsed, by automatic operation of law. Continuously absent means that you did not make even a single visit back to the UK in those five years, no matter how short. Any visit back will reset the clock. So if you were away for 6 years but you visited once 2.5 years after first leaving, then the absence clock would have restarted after your visit and your maximum continuous absence is 3.5 years. 

    Note, the Home Office does not switch off people’s eVisas when their status has lapsed. It is up to individuals to know if their status has lapsed. If your status has lapsed and you want to return to the UK, you run the risk of being questioned at the UK border - see the EUSS Border Force guidance section on “Lapsed leave for EU Settlement Scheme status holders” and seek legal advice.

    See for more info our other FAQs:

     

    Assuming that your status has not lapsed, your next question is whether you can return to live and work in the UK with your pre-settled status. 

    This is not a straightforward question to answer.

    You can rely on your pre-settled status until its expiry date, unless it is cancelled or curtailed by the Home Office.

    There is a risk that when you travel back to the UK, UK Border Force officers may question you on your absences. In principle, they do have the power to cancel your leave at the border, see the EUSS Border Force guidance, section “Grounds for cancellation of leave” which says “... pre-settled status [...] may be cancelled at the border where, in accordance with Annex 3 to Appendix EU or Annex 3 to Appendix EU (Family Permit), you are satisfied that it is proportionate to cancel that leave where [...] they hold pre-settled status, and they cease to meet, or never met, the requirements of Appendix EU”.

    Assuming your leave is not cancelled at the border, you can continue to rely on your pre-settled status while in the UK, including by working and renting. Under current Home Office practice, your pre-settled status will not be looked at again until a month or so before its expiry date.

    Therefore, in theory, you could build up the required residence time in the UK until you have 30 months’ residence, and thereby move yourself back into being eligible for settled status. We have a tool on our website that you can use to calculate when you would qualify for settled status here - be sure to download the 30/60 calculator rather than the 6/12 calculator.  

    There are no guarantees however that Home Office policy will not change. The rules were not changed to encourage people who have long since left to return to the UK. However, we have heard of people in this position being able to do just that. 

    It is ultimately a personal decision with a level of risk, and we would recommend getting legal advice to look at your individual situation. the3million is unable to provide legal or immigration advice. We have a page on our website with Useful Links to other organisations that can give legal advice.

    See also these information pages on our website:

     

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