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Advice for residents and businesses

We want to ensure that our community of around 32,000 residents from the EU know that they are welcome to stay, live and work within the borough. 

The EU settlement scheme 

As a non-UK EU citizen, you can live, work and access services, healthcare and benefits.

Since Brexit, people now have to apply for new residence status, under the EU Settlement Scheme, which confirms that you live in the UK and have the right to do so. This allows you to apply to continue living in the UK after 30 June 2021. 

The deadline for applying was 30 June 2021. This deadline does not apply if you already have pre-settled status and you’re applying for settled status.

There is no cost to applicants and fees will be refunded to those who have already applied.

 

This means:

  • EU citizens who have been a resident in the UK for five years or more will be eligible for settled status. 
  • if you have been a resident for less than five years, you will be eligible for pre-settled status. You will be able to convert this to settled status after five years of residency.
  • if you did not apply for settled status by 30 June 2021, you will have no legal basis to remain in the UK. Check with the Home Office to understand the impact of this
  • UK permanent residents have the right to live permanently in the UK. Permanent residence refers to residence status and does not affect citizenship.

To complete the application you need to use the ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app (available on Google Play or the Apple App Store) to scan your document and send your photo - you need to use an Android phone, an iPhone 7 (or above) with near field communication (NFC), or a tablet device to do this.

Check if you can still apply on GOV.UK

Businesses

The Government has produced an employer’s toolkit with guidance to support EU citizens.

You can also get advice on what Brexit might mean to your business from:

Information for Schools

The Department for Education issued guidance for schools to prepare for Brexit.

More advice

There are many other sources of information, advice and guidance, including: