Frequently Asked Questions
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EU students
Student FAQs - Disclaimer
For official information and updates, please consult UK Government sources (www.gov.uk) and sources from other key institutions such as Universities UK (https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk) or the UK Council of International Students’ Affairs (https://www.ukcisa.org.uk).
In our answers, we refer to all individuals eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme as ‘EU citizens’. However, some categories of citizens (e.g. Irish citizens) might benefit from different arrangements and exceptions.
Other resources
Useful resources:
Your Europe: EU Nationals in the UK (contains lots of links to other guidance and q&a documents from the European Commission)
UK Government: ask a question about the EU Settlement Scheme
UK Government: COVID-19 guidance for the EU Settlement Scheme
UK Government policy paper on student finance eligibility for the 2021-2022 academic year
Immigration Assistance:
EU Settlement Resolution Centre - call 0300 123 7379 between Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays), 8am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm
Postcode finder - to find closest charity / voluntary organisation https://www.gov.uk/help-eu-settlement-scheme
Charity / community organisations - the Home Office has funded charity / voluntary organisations to assist vulnerable applicants with their EUSS applications for free, search on: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-community-support -for-vulnerable-citizens
Identity Scanning Locations - search gov.uk for a list of Local Authority locations. (Note that these are currently closed due to COVID-19 so if you can’t use your mobile devices to scan your documents, you may need to send your Identity documents by post)
Assisted Digital Service - call 03333 445 675 or text “VISA” to 07537 416 944
Settled is a charity providing free immigration advice to EU citizens. You can contact them here: http://settled.org.uk/contact
Here for Good, free advice for vulnerable EU citizens, see https://www.hereforgoodlaw.org/advisory
There are many organisations and individuals providing advice on citizenship. In the UK, all immigration advice is regulated, so please make sure you go to someone who is qualified to give you advice on this area of law. On the ILPA website, you can find a directory of members to find an immigration advisor near your area: https://ilpa.org.uk.
What does ‘continuous residence’ or ‘continuity of residence’ mean?
Continuous residence, or continuity of residence, simply means living in the UK. However, too much absence from the UK can break continuity of residence.
The rules are different depending on whether you are applying to the EU Settlement Scheme, or for British citizenship.
EU Settlement Scheme:
You are allowed six months’ absence (or a one-off absence of up to 12 months*) from the UK out of any 12 month period before breaking your continuous residence.
‘Six months’ actually translates to 180 days, rather than six calendar months.
The ‘out of any 12 month period’ is trickier to calculate than you might think, because you really do have to look at any 12 month period, not just checking each calendar year. For example, if you are away for 4 months between August and November in one year, and then 3 months from February to April the next, you might think that you didn’t break your continuity of residence. Unfortunately you did, because you were away for 7 months between July of the first year and July of the second.
To help you calculate your greatest total absence in any rolling 12-month period, we have created an ‘absence calculator’ for you. Clicking here will automatically download an Excel file. Open it and enter your absence dates. For best useability, we recommend you do this on a laptop/computer that has Excel installed. Please note the3million cannot be held responsible for any errors in this calculator, or any decisions taken as a result of using it. If you are in any doubt, please seek legal advice.
* A one-off absence of up to 12 months is allowed for some specific reasons (some examples are pregnancy, childbirth, serious illness, compulsory military services). The Home Office has published their Covid-19 guidance for the EU Settlement Scheme. It only appears to cover absences due to illness or quarantine, rather than pragmatic decisions not to travel during the pandemic, although students are mentioned separately.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: To be eligible for settled status, you normally need to show five years’ continuous residence which needs to have started before 31 December 2020. This means you cannot break your continuity of residence, come back to the UK after 1 January 2021 to restart your continuity of residence and apply for settled status once you reach five years. Your pre-settled status will have expired before you are able to get to five years of continuous residence, and you will not be able to renew your pre-settled status. Instead you will then have look at the UK’s immigration rules outside of the EU Settlement Scheme.
British citizenship
See this question on allowance absences when applying for British citizenship. The requirements are stricter than for the EU Settlement Scheme.
What do I need to do if I am an existing EU citizen student, studying in the UK?
If you were in the UK before 31 December 2020, make sure you apply by 30 June 2021 for settled/pre-settled status to secure your rights to stay in the UK. For more information about settled/pre-settled status and how to apply you can visit the Government’s website.
I have already started university in the UK (online) but haven’t yet entered the country. What are my options?
If you are an EU citizen and are studying at a university in the UK already (you started your course before August 2021), you will be eligible for home fees for the duration of your degree. However, you need to have entered the UK before 31 December 2020 to be eligible for settled/pre-settled status. If you did not enter the UK before this date, you will have to apply for a student visa under the new Immigration System.
See this UK Government policy paper on student finance eligibility for the 2021-2022 academic year.
I am an EU citizen, and have started my course at a British university online. What can I do if I do not have settled/pre-settled status and I did not arrive in the UK before 31 December due to the pandemic?
If you have visited the UK in the past, but more than six months ago, you will likely not be able to show a ‘continuous residence’ that started before 31 December 2020. The Government have recently published their Covid guidance for the EU Settlement Scheme, which says “If you are a student who was studying in the UK and are studying outside the UK because of coronavirus, that absence will not cause you to break your continuous qualifying period, where it is for a single period of more than 6 months but not more than 12 months, during your 5-year continuous qualifying period."
If you are not eligible to apply for pre-settled status, you will instead need to apply for a student visa under the new Immigration System.
If you are in any doubt about your absences, use this simple form to answer some YES / NO questions to check your situation: https://t3m-settledstatus-absences.paperform.co/
I have pre-settled status but cannot return to the UK due to the pandemic. Will this have an impact on my status?
With pre-settled status, you lose your status if you leave the UK for a period of 2 consecutive years, whereas with settled status you can be away for 5 years. (See also this FAQ on settled status 5-year absences).
However, your ‘continuous residence’ will reset to 0 if you are away for more than 6 months in any 12 month period with pre-settled status.
This means that you will only be eligible for settled status five years after you re-entered the country ( provided that you re-enter the UK before 31 December and you re-apply for pre-settled status - to ensure that your pre-settled status will still be valid when you reach five years' continuous residence).
The Government have recently published their Covid guidance for the EU Settlement Scheme, which says “If you have been absent from the UK for a single period of more than 6 months, but not more than 12 months, during your 5 year continuous qualifying period due to being ill with coronavirus, and you were unable to return to the UK because you were ill or in quarantine, that absence will not cause you to break your continuous qualifying period.” However, this does not appear to cater for someone who could have travelled but decided it was perhaps safer not to, although students are mentioned separately.
If you are in any doubt about your absences, use this simple form to answer some YES / NO questions to check your situation: https://t3m-settledstatus-absences.paperform.co/
More information about this is available here.
I have pre-settled/settled status and intend to apply to start a university course after 2020/2021. Will I be eligible for home fees?
It has been confirmed that, if you are an EU citizen and already hold pre-settled/settled status and meet the relevant eligibility requirements (see here for more details) , you will be eligible for home fee status and financial support.
See this UK Government policy paper on student finance eligibility for the 2021-2022 academic year.
I have settled/pre-settled status and intend to start a postgraduate degree. Will I be eligible for home fees?
It has been confirmed that, if you are an EU citizen and already hold pre-settled/settled status and meet the relevant eligibility requirements (see here for more details), you will be eligible for home fee status and financial support.
See this UK Government policy paper on student finance eligibility for the 2021-2022 academic year.
What documents will be required to be able to stay in the UK for a study or work period from 2021?
If you have evidence of arriving in the UK before 31 December 2020, you need to apply for pre-settled status. If you first entered the UK after this date, you will have to apply for a visa under the new Immigration System.
What does the new Immigration System entail?
On 13 July 2020, the UK Government launched a UK points-based immigration system. These new arrangements will affect workers, students and graduates and visitors who will arrive in the UK from 1 January 2021, once freedom of movement with the European Union (EU) has ended and are also known as the new Immigration System.
If I arrived in the UK before December 2020, will I be eligible for home tuition fees and student loans?
It has been confirmed that, if you are an EU citizen, entered the UK before 31 December 2020 and apply for pre-settled/settled status, you will have access to home fees and student loans even after August 2021 (provided that you meet the criteria).
This is not the case for new EU students (without settled/pre-settled status). This might be different for Irish nationals intending to study in the UK.
For more information about this, please visit the dedicated Brexit section on Universities UK website or on the UK Council of International Student Affairs website.
See this UK Government policy paper on student finance eligibility for the 2021-2022 academic year.