| Deadline | 30 June 2021; later only with reasonable grounds or a deadline of your own |
| Pre-settled to settled | after 5 years; automatic conversion since 2025, since 9 April 2026 based on 30 months of tax and benefit records in the last 60 |
| Absence for conversion | no more than 30 months in the last 5 years |
| Losing pre-settled status | automatically after more than 5 years in a row outside the UK; review for cancellation after more than 30 months away |
| Losing settled status | after more than 5 years in a row outside the UK, 4 years for Swiss citizens |
| Cost | free |
Settled and pre-settled status
The EU Settlement Scheme gives citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland who were living in the UK before the transition period ended on 31 December 2020, and their families, a status of their own. Settled status is permanent residence, legally indefinite leave to remain under the EUSS. Pre-settled status is a time-limited right for anyone who had not yet completed five years in the UK when they applied.
Applying is free, and if you hold pre-settled status you can apply for settled status at any time once you meet the five years. Earned settlement, currently under discussion, expressly does not apply to the EUSS. More on our earned settlement page.
Automatic conversion to settled status
Since January 2025 the Home Office has been converting pre-settled status to settled status automatically, without you making a new application; by the end of 2025 that had produced 87,000 grants of settled status. On 9 April 2026 the Home Office improved the system so that more people are converted: it now checks whether your tax and benefit records show 30 of the last 60 months in the UK, instead of working through the complex absence rules of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Home Office emails you along the way: once before the check and once with the result.
Not everyone can be converted automatically. The Home Office names these groups: EEA citizens who have not paid tax or received benefits for at least 30 of the last 60 months; people who obtained another UK immigration status after their pre-settled status; non-EEA family members; joining family members of any nationality; children under 18; and people with other eligibility requirements, such as derivative rights. They apply for settled status in the usual way. Swiss citizens are not named either way, since the paper speaks of EEA citizens, so if you are Swiss, do not count on automatic conversion. Where automatic conversion is not possible, your pre-settled status is extended by five years, so you do not lose your rights simply because no application was made.
For settled status itself you must not have spent more than 30 months in the last five years outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, or more than six months in any 12-month period, with exceptions. The 30-month rule has applied since 16 July 2025 and has helped many people who spent longer periods away.
You do not have to wait: if you qualify, you can apply for settled status yourself at any time. That is especially worth doing if UK tax records do not reflect your residence, for example because a foreign company paid you or you live on your own capital.
This second change has nothing to do with conversion. Since 9 April 2026 the Home Office has been removing pre-settled status from people who have clearly stopped living in the UK. Where it cannot confirm eligibility for settled status from tax and benefit records, it uses travel data to find pre-settled status holders who have spent more than 30 of the last 60 months outside the UK. Those away longest come first, starting with people who have been outside the UK for the last five years. Before any decision the Home Office contacts you by the email address and phone number on your UKVI account, and you can send evidence of residence or reasons for your absence. Status is only removed where that is proportionate, and you can appeal the decision. The cancellation and curtailment guidance behind it was also published in April 2026. Since HC 584 of September 2026 the rules expressly allow pre-settled status to be cancelled where the requirements are no longer met and cancellation is proportionate.
How you lose your status, and how you don't
You lose pre-settled status automatically if you spend more than five years in a row outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. For the five years towards settled status, you must have been in the UK for at least six months in every 12-month period. One absence of up to twelve months for an important reason is allowed, such as childbirth, serious illness, study or an overseas posting.
You keep settled status as long as you do not spend more than five years in a row outside the UK. Swiss citizens and their family members can be away for up to four years in a row. A visit to the UK, however short, restarts the clock. If you commute between the UK and your home country or go back for a few years, this is the number that matters most.
With settled or pre-settled status you also need no ETA to enter the UK; you prove your status digitally through your eVisa.
Late applications
The general deadline was 30 June 2021. If you missed it, you can still apply if you are eligible and can show reasonable grounds for the delay, covering the whole period since the deadline. Joining family members have deadlines of their own, usually 90 days after arrival. Since 8 October 2026, under HC 584, family members applying for the first time have three months from their last lawful entry.
Family and children
Family members can join you under certain conditions, even after 2020, if the relationship existed beforehand. Children born in the UK while a parent holds settled status are automatically British. Twelve months after getting settled status you can usually apply for British citizenship.
EU citizens who work in the UK but do not live there can get the free frontier worker permit, provided they started working in the UK before 31 December 2020.
Status and tax
A right to live in the UK and tax residence are two separate things. Whether you are UK tax resident is decided year by year by the statutory residence test, not by your visa or your status. How they fit together is explained in status and tax, in our overview of the UK tax system and, for the first years after arrival, under the FIG regime.
Sources: GOV.UK: Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme; GOV.UK: EU Settlement Scheme caseworker guidance; GOV.UK: Statement of changes HC 584, explanatory memorandum; GOV.UK: Frontier Worker permit; GOV.UK: Earned settlement (consultation); GOV.UK: EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) status automation update (9 April 2026)
