Summary of EU citizens' rights
Whether you have (pre-)settled status, have applied and are waiting for a decision, or haven't yet applied to the EU Settlement Scheme, we go in-depth into your rights in the UK.
Scroll down for information about rights of EU citizens* and their family members who have status, are waiting for a decision or have not applied yet (and don't have other UK immigration status):
- Pre-settled or settled status
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✅ Right to NHS primary medical care
Services including GP and A&E treatment
See Doctors of the World briefing
✅ Right to NHS secondary / tertiary care services
Services including hospital stays and specialised treatments.
See also Doctors of the World briefing and NHS Charging guidance ("EU Settlement Scheme" in section 9)
✅ Right to work
✅ Right to rent
See Right to Rent guidance, which only applies in England. You do not need to prove your right to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
✅ Right to receive benefits, housing and homelessness assistance
If eligibility criteria are met.
Those with settled status can apply for benefits on the same terms as British citizens.
Those with pre-settled status need to satisfy an additional ‘Right to Reside’ test for some benefits - see Citizen’s Advice page on the ‘Right to Reside’ test or NPRF Network page. For more detailed information, see this webpage by CPAG who have been challenging this in court. the3million is also intervening in legal cases to challenge this.
✅ Travel into the UK
Make sure you link your latest passport or national identity card to your status. See our FAQ on why this is important.
It is also advisable to take a printout of your decision letter and a screenshot of status from the 'View and Prove' service (also known as your 'eVisa'). It can also be useful to generate a share code (choose ‘Something Else’ as the reason for the share code) - these are valid for 90 days, and can be used as many times as is needed during that period.
See this webpage for more details, including for joining family members, and dual nationals who are British and don't have a British passport.
✅ Higher education 'home fee status'
Subject to residency requirements. Other eligibility criteria may apply to non-EU family members.
See Gov.UK website for rules for England
See UKCISA website and look at information for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
✅ Government student financial support
Subject to residency requirements. Other eligibility criteria may apply to non-EU family members and those with pre-settled status, especially for extra help beyond tuition fee finance.
See Gov.UK website for rules for England
See UKCISA website and look at information for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Waiting for decision on in-time application
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For those who lived in the UK by 31 December 2020, an in-time application is one that was submitted on or before 30 June 2021. For joining family members, an in-time application is one which is submitted within 3 months of their first arrival (or birth) in the UK.
✅ Right to NHS primary medical care
Services including GP and A&E treatment.
See Doctors of the World briefing
✅ Right to NHS secondary / tertiary care services
Services including hospital stays and specialised treatments
See also Doctors of the World briefing and NHS Charging guidance ("EU Settlement Scheme" in section 9)
✅ Right to work
✅ Right to rent
See Right to Rent guidance, which only applies in England. You do not need to prove your right to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
✅ Right to receive benefits, housing and homelessness assistance
If eligibility criteria are met.
Those waiting for an EUSS decision need to satisfy an additional ‘Right to Reside’ test for some benefits - see Citizen’s Advice page on the ‘Right to Reside’ test or NPRF Network page. For more detailed information, see this webpage by CPAG who have been challenging this in court. the3million is also intervening in legal cases to challenge this.
❌✅ Travel into the UK
The only cohort of people with a pending EUSS application that can enter the UK, are those that lived in the UK by 31 December 2020 (and can prove it), or those that have a valid EUSS Family Permit. Anyone else with a pending EUSS application (and without a valid EUSS Family Permit) is likely to be refused entry at the UK border, and removed - unless “compelling, compassionate circumstances apply”.
See the guidance EU Settlement Scheme: Border Force guidance, section “Arriving passengers with a pending valid EU Settlement Scheme application”.
If you are eligible to enter therefore, ensure you take sufficient evidence that you lived in the UK by 31 December 2020, take a screenshot of your pending status from ‘View and Prove’ service (also known as your ‘eVisa’) showing that you have a Certificate of Application, and generate and save a share code (choose a ‘Something Else’ share code) which is valid for 90 days.
However, you may face difficulties being allowed to board a plane, train or ferry if you only have a Certificate of Application.
See this webpage for more details, including for joining family members.
✅ Higher education 'home fee status'
Subject to residency requirements. Other eligibility criteria may apply.
See Gov.UK website for rules for England
See UKCISA website and look at information for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
✅ Government student financial support
Subject to residency requirements. Other eligibility criteria may apply, especially for extra help beyond tuition fee finance.
See Gov.UK website for rules for England
See UKCISA website and look at information for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Waiting for decision on late application
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For those who lived in the UK by 31 December 2020, a late application is one that was submitted on or after 1 July 2021. For joining family members, a late application is one that was submitted more than 3 months of their first arrival (or birth) in the UK.
✅ Right to NHS primary medical care
Services including GP and A&E treatment.
See Doctors of the World briefing
✅ Right to NHS secondary / tertiary care services
Services including hospital stays and specialised treatments.
However, care received in the time between your deadline and submitting your late application (as evidenced by a Certificate of Application) is chargeable. Please contact us if you are affected by this.
See also Doctors of the World briefing and NHS Charging guidance ("EU Settlement Scheme" in section 9)
✅ Right to work
✅ Right to rent
See Right to Rent guidance, which only applies in England. You do not need to prove your right to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
✅ Right to receive benefits, housing and homelessness assistance
If eligibility criteria are met.
Those waiting for an EUSS decision need to satisfy an additional ‘Right to Reside’ test for some benefits - see Citizen’s Advice page on the ‘Right to Reside’ test or NPRF Network page. For more detailed information, see this webpage by CPAG who have been challenging this in court. the3million is also intervening in legal cases to challenge this.
❌ ✅ Travel into the UK
The only cohort of people with a pending EUSS application that can enter the UK, are those that lived in the UK by 31 December 2020 (and can prove it), or those that have a valid EUSS Family Permit. Anyone else with a pending EUSS application (and without a valid EUSS Family Permit) is likely to be refused entry at the UK border, and removed - unless “compelling, compassionate circumstances apply”.
See the guidance EU Settlement Scheme: Border Force guidance, section “Arriving passengers with a pending valid EU Settlement Scheme application”.
If you are eligible to enter therefore, ensure you take sufficient evidence that you lived in the UK by 31 December 2020, take a screenshot of your pending status from ‘View and Prove’ service (also known as your ‘eVisa’) showing that you have a Certificate of Application, and generate and save a share code (choose a ‘Something Else’ share code) which is valid for 90 days.
However, you may face difficulties being allowed to board a plane, train or ferry if you only have a Certificate of Application.
See this webpage for more details, including for joining family members.
✅ Higher education 'home fee status'
Subject to residency requirements. Other eligibility criteria may apply.
See Gov.UK website for rules for England
See UKCISA website and look at information for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
✅ Government student financial support
Subject to residency requirements. Other eligibility criteria may apply.
See Gov.UK website for rules for England
See UKCISA website and look at information for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Not yet applied to the EU Settlement Scheme
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This section applies to those EU citizens and their family members who have not applied to the EU Settlement Scheme, but who should have. See our FAQ: Am I eligible to apply for (pre-)settled status now that the 30 June 2021 deadline has passed?
In other words, this section does not apply to those who have a different valid UK immigration status (such as Indefinite Leave to Remain, spousal visa, skilled worker visa, student visa etc).
Note - if you only have a blue booklet with ‘Permanent Residence’, or an EEA Biometric Residence Card then these are not valid anymore. If you do not have a valid UK immigration status, then we strongly recommend you seek legal advice - in some circumstances it may be possible to submit a late application to the EU Settlement Scheme.
✅ Right to NHS primary medical care
Services including GP and A&E treatment
See Doctors of the World briefing
❌ Right to NHS secondary / tertiary care services
This is very important if, for example, your baby is born in the UK. If your baby is not born British, then if you don’t submit an EUSS application for your child within 3 months of their birth, any secondary / tertiary healthcare will become chargeable. Note that you can get a paper application form to apply to the EUSS if you haven’t yet been able to get an identity document for your child. See our FAQ: I have had a baby, do I need to submit an application to the EU Settlement Scheme? What should someone who has settled or pre-settled status do after the birth of a child?
See NHS Charging Guidance ("EU Settlement Scheme" in section 9)
See Doctors of the World briefing
❌ Right to work
❌ Right to rent
Only applies in England, you do not need to prove your right to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
❌ Right to receive benefits, housing and homelessness assistance
❌ Travel into the UK
This section is about those who should have applied to the EUSS but have not. It does not therefore apply to someone who is simply visiting the UK. So visitors can still travel into the UK - but only if they are genuine visitors and are not for example living or working in the UK.
See this webpage for more details.
If you are a joining family member with a valid EUSS family permit, however, you can also travel into the UK - see page 5 of this document.
❌ Higher education 'home fee status'
See Gov.UK website for rules for England
See UKCISA website and look at information for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
❌ Government student financial support
See Gov.UK website for rules for England
See UKCISA website and look at information for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Who is this information for?
The information on this page applies to EU citizens* and family members who have status, or have applied, or are eligible to apply, for status under the EU Settlement Scheme. It does not apply to those who move to the UK under the new immigration system.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this page is for general guidance and does not constitute legal advice.
It is a simplified overview and individual situations are often more complex. Changes in Government guidance are made from time to time, and some Government policies are being challenged through the courts. Given the changing nature of laws, rules and regulations, and the inherent hazards of electronic communication, there may be delays, omissions or inaccuracies in information contained in this page.
Accordingly, the information on this site is provided with the understanding that the authors and publishers are not herein engaged in rendering legal advice. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional legal advisers.
Please seek legal advice if you are affected by any of these situations.
* We use EU citizens as a shorthand to also include EU, EEA EFTA and Swiss citizens
