EU citizens now have less than 100 days left to apply for settled status

EU citizens have less than 100 days to ensure they have the right to remain in the UK.

The deadline to apply for the settled status scheme, which grants EU citizens indefinite leave to remain in Britain to live, work, or study is 30 June 2021.

When Britain left the European Union in 2020, free movement continued during the transition period and has throughout the ‘grace period’.

But following the deadline, those without settled status will not be able to move house, change job, open a bank account or receive a myriad of other rights without requisite documentation, according to campaign group the3million.

The group, which represents the three million EU citizens residing in the UK, has also said it is possible those without status will be removed from the UK by the Home Office.

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According to the group, there is currently a backlog of 390,000 applicants who have applied to the scheme but are yet to receive a response from the government. In the past, they have described this backlog as a “timebomb” for the government and have expressed concerns that elderly people have not managed to apply to the digitally organised scheme.

Co-founder Maike Bohn has urged the government to extend the deadline so people do not miss out.

She said: “We need to stop an avoidable race against the clock as the deadline is fast approaching. We want people to get the rights they are entitled to and be able to enforce them.

“The consequences of not addressing these issues are enormous: if only 3% of the estimated population of EU citizens living in the UK were to be status-less, it would amount to over 100,000 people being thrown under the bus.”