| Term | Explanation |
| Agreements | The UK EEA EFTA Separation Agreement and the UK EU Withdrawal Agreement and specifically Part 2 of those Agreements which provide rights for those EU and EEA EFTA citizens and their family members who were living in the UK in accordance with EU law prior to 11:00 PM on the 31st of December 2020 and any joining family members.
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| Call for evidence | An information gathering exercise for citizens and other stakeholders to submit information, usually for the purposes of an inquiry.
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| Certificate of Application (CoA) | A document issued by the UK Home Office to confirm that a person has made a valid application for UK residents rights under the Agreements implemented by the EUSS.
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| Citizens’ Rights Directive (CRD) | The Citizens’ Rights Directive (also called the Free Movement Directive) is a piece of legislation from the European Union that sets out the rights of EU citizens and their family members to live, work, and move freely between EU countries. It explains things like who can stay in another country, for how long, and when someone can get permanent residence after living there for a period of time.
Following the UK decision to leave the EU, EU law ceased to have effect except where in some circumstances some EU law would apply under the Agreements. The UK and EU negotiated the Agreements that incorporates the CRD (to a limited extent) to protect EU and EEA EFTA citizens and their family members rights to continue to live in the UK in broadly the same way after Brexit.
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| Common Travel Area (CTA) | The Common Travel Area (CTA) is an open borders area comprising the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Governed by non-binding agreements, the CTA maintains minimal border controls, allowing easy passage for British and Irish citizens with limited identity documentation, albeit with some exceptions.
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| Constitutive scheme | The Agreements provided two options for the UK and EU countries when it came to implementing citizens’ rights. The options are often described as ‘constitutive’ and ‘declaratory’.
A constitutive scheme is a system where a person only acquires legal rights or status after a formal application and approval by the relevant authorities. The UK implemented the EUSS, adopting a constitutive scheme, as permitted by Article 18(1). This means that an EU and EEA EFTA citizen and their family members must make an application to the EUSS to access their rights under the Agreements. Without applying, they cannot access any of their rights.
Some countries in the EU adopted a constitutive scheme.
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| Continuous residence | If you have Pre-Settled Status (PSS), this generally means you will need to be in the UK for at least 6 months in any 12-month period. Meeting the rules on continuous residence will be necessary to maintain your PSS and qualify for settled status (SS).
From 16 July 2025, the way absences are assessed for many people with pre-settled status changed. Under the new rules, eligible pre-settled status holders can qualify for settled status if they have spent at least 30 months in the UK during the most recent five-year period, rather than meeting only the previous continuous residence requirements.
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| Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) | The role of the CJEU is to interpret EU law, to make sure that EU member states comply with their obligations for consistent application in all member states. It is also the forum where member states may challenge EU legislation and the settling of legal dispute between the EU institutions and member state governments. The CJEU has a limited role in the UK after the end of the transition period set out in the Agreements:
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| Cancellation | In relation to EUSS status, “cancellation” means the process by which the Home Office treats a person’s status as having never been granted in the first place. If status is cancelled, a person will no longer be lawfully resident in the UK.
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| Curtailment | In relation to EUSS status, “curtailment” is a Home Office process that cancels or removes a grant of EUSS status, that means a person’s leave will be shorter or have no leave remaining.
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| Declaratory scheme | The Agreements provided two options for the UK and EU countries when it came to implementing citizens’ rights. The options are often described as ‘constitutive’ and ‘declaratory’.
A system where a person has rights that exist automatically and any application or document only confirms or declares those existing rights. A declaratory scheme operates in Gibraltar.
Some countries in the EU adopted a constitutive scheme.
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| Devolved governments | The Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive.
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| Discrimination | Discrimination is treating someone unfairly or differently because of who they are. The Agreements prohibit discrimination on the grounds of nationality. This means that those with EUSS status in the UK, or with rights under the Agreements in Gibraltar cannot be treated differently to an UK citizen because of their nationality.
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| Durable Partner | Durable partners are couples who are in a committed relationship but not married or in a civil partnership. Durable partners will need to show that they have been living together for two years in a relationship akin to marriage to qualify or demonstrate other significant evidence of the durable relationship.
If applying to the EUSS as a durable partner, you must show that you were resident in the UK in a durable relationship prior to 31 December 2020 and you must show that your residence was ‘facilitated’ by the UK. This normally means that by 31 December 2020 you already had a document issued as a durable partner under the EEA regulations, or that you had applied for one.
If your durable partnership started after 31 December 2020, you will not be eligible to apply to the EUSS on this basis.
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| Eligibility stage | The eligibility stage is the second step of a three-stage process created by the Home Office to decide an application for EUSS status.
This stage checks whether an applicant meets the requirements to qualify for status. This includes things like how long you’ve continuously lived in the UK from on or before the 31 December 2020, your relationship (if applying as a family member), and whether you meet the rules for settled or pre-settled status.
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| European Economic Area (EEA) | A free trade zone created in 1994, composed of the states of the European Union together with Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein.
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| End of the transition period | 11:00pm on 31 December 2020.
The UK officially left the EU at 11.00pm on 31 January 2020 and the Agreements took effect.
However, the Agreements provided for a transitional period during which the majority of EU law, including in relation to the free movement of people, continued to apply to and within the UK. This meant that EU and EEA EFTA citizens and their family members could continue to move to the UK under EU law rules. The same was true of UK citizens and their family members moving to the EU.
This transitional period came to an end at 11:00pm on 31 December 2020. At this point, all EU law, including in relation to the free movement of people, ceased to apply to and within the UK. After this time, EU and EEA EFTA citizens could no longer move to the UK under EU law rules. However, the Agreements protects those who are already living in the UK or Gibraltar and their family members.
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| EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement | The legal agreement between the UK and the EU that set out the terms of the UK leaving the EU, including protecting the rights of EU and EEA EFTA citizens and their family members living in the UK, and UK citizens living in the EU after Brexit.
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| EU and EEA EFTA citizen | A national of an EU and EEA EFTA country.
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| EUWAA | European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020
This Act implements the Agreements in the UK. It also established the IMA and set out its role and functions in Schedule 2.
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| European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) | The scheme set up by the UK Government for EU and EEA EFTA citizens and their family members to continue living in the UK after 31 December 2020 following Brexit. Citizens who lived in the UK before 31 December 2020 and their family members will no longer have an automatic right to reside in the UK. An application for EUSS status must be made for such individuals who choose to continue to live in the UK to evidence that they can be lawfully resident and access rights.
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| eVisa | A digital record of a person’s immigration status. If you are granted status under the EUSS your status will be held digitally as an eVisa.
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| Exercising a right to reside | Means that an EU and EEA EFTA citizen is complying with certain conditions such as being a worker or self-employed, has sufficient resources and sickness insurance; are family members of an EU and EEA EFTA citizen meeting these conditions, or have already acquired a right to permanent residence that will be typically evidenced by having settled status (SS).
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| Family member | A ‘family member’ of an EU and EEA EFTA citizen is one of the following:
There is a further category of persons known as ‘Extended family members’ who include:
A family member may join an EU and EEA EFTA citizen in the UK after 31 December 2020, known as a ‘joining family definition’ (see definition below).
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| Frontier Worker | A person who is a national of an EU Member State who is not primarily resident in the UK but works or is self‑employed there and returns to their country of residence regularly (daily or at least once a week). This applies in the same way for UK nationals who are resident in the UK but work in an EU Member State.
A frontier worker is protected by the rights in the Agreements if they exercised their right under EU law as a frontier worker before the 31 December 2020 as long as they continue to do so after.
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| Immigration rules | The Immigration Rules are made by the UK government that set out who can enter, stay, or settle in the UK and under what conditions.
They explain the requirements for different visas and statuses (like work, study, or the EU Settlement Scheme under Appendix EU) and how decisions on applications are made.
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| Intervention | A procedure in which a third party can join an ongoing court hearing.
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| In time applicant | Citizens or their family members (other than joining family members – see below) who have made an application to the EUSS before the end of the grace period (30 June 2021).
Also, joining family members who have made an application before:
(1) the expiry of the period of 3 months after their arrival in the UK, or (2) the end of the grace period (30 June 2021); whichever is later.
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| Joining family member | A joining family member is someone who did not live in the UK before the end of the transition period (31 December 2020) but is coming to join a family member who already has EUSS status.
They must usually be a close family member (like a spouse, civil partner, child, or dependent parent), and the relationship generally needs to have existed before 31 December 2020 (with some exceptions).
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| Joint Committee | The committee is made up of representatives from both the UK and the EU. It has been jointly chaired by the UK Foreign Secretary and a member of the European Commission executive.
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| Judicial Review | The procedure by which people or organisations can apply to the court to review a decision of a public body and the court decides if they are lawful. It is a challenge to the way a decision was made, not a challenge to the judgement on the facts of the case.
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| General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) | For information to be shared lawfully, it must also comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and EU General Data Protection Regulation (so far as is relevant) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA18). |
| Grace period | The period from the end of the transition period on 11:00pm 31 December 2020 to the end of the grace period on 30th of June 2021 for the UK or member states that decided to require citizens to apply in order to enjoy the rights contained in the Agreements referred to as a constitutive scheme.
The Agreements required a grace period of a minimum of six months from the end of the transition period during which the full rights contained in the agreements would be available. The UK decided to implement a constitutive scheme and set the grace period to come to an end six months from the end of the transition period (30th of June 2021). The Agreements provided for a grace period during which EEA citizens and their family members who were lawfully resident in the UK under EU free movement law before the end of the transition period were given additional time to make their application under the EUSS.
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| Grant funded organisation | An organisation that receives funding from the UK Home Office to provide support and assistance to individuals applying to the EUSS.
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| Late applicants | Citizens or their family members (other than joining family members – see below) who have made an application to the EUSS after the end of the grace period (30 June 2021).
Also, joining family members who have made an application after: (1) the expiry of the period of 3 months after their arrival in the UK, or (2) the end of the grace period (30 June 2021); whichever is later.
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| Leave to remain | A general immigration term that describes a person’s permission to stay in the UK. A person’s permission to stay might be ‘limited’ or ‘indefinite’.
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| Member States | “Member States” means the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, Ireland, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Croatia, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden (Article 2 Withdrawal Agreement)
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| Pre settled status (PSS) | A status of residence in the UK under the EUSS for EU and EEA EFTA citizens which can be applied for by eligible persons with less than five years continuous residence in the UK.
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| Public authority (PA) | A public authority is any organisation that exercises functions of a public nature.
Public authorities can include:
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| Relevant rights | Rights protected by the Agreements and corresponding rights arising under domestic law see paragraph 41 of Schedule 2 to the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020.
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| Right of appeal | A right of appeal means asking a court to review and potentially change a decision you think was wrong.
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| Settled Status | A status of permanent residence in the UK under the EUSS which can be applied for by eligible persons after five years continuous legal residence in the UK.
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| Settlement Resolution Centre | A Home Office contact service that provides information and support to individuals about applications under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).
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| Social security coordination | UK and Member States work together by connecting separate national social security systems to ensure an individual’s rights are protected if they have moved between the UK and Member States so that they are not disadvantaged by losing access to some benefits (like pensions or healthcare).
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| Suitability stage | The suitability stage is the final step of a three-stage process created by the Home Office to decide an application for EUSS status.
This stage checks whether an applicant should be refused status because of their behaviour or background. This includes things like criminal convictions, public security concerns or fraud and deception. Even if you meet the other stages of requirements, you can still be refused at this stage, if you are not considered suitable.
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| Surinder Singh Rights | Surinder Singh rights permit family members of a ‘qualifying British citizen’ to return with them or join them in the UK after a period of residence in a member state. Surinder Singh cases fall outside of the scope of the WA but can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by way of an EUSS family permit.
This route closed under the EUSS to new applications on 8 August 2023. |
| Third country nationals (TCN) | To mean nationals from outside the EEA and Switzerland. |
| Qualifying persons | Individuals whose rights are protected under the Agreements.
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| UK Visas and Immigration Account (UKVI) | An online service that allows an individual to manage their immigration status. A person has a UKVI account if they have applied to the EUSS, applied for a visa and used the UK Immigration: ID check app or if a person created one when applying for a visa.
The UKVI account is linked to the ‘View and Prove service’ and an ‘eVisa’ where applicable – see definitions for further explanation.
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| Validity Stage | The validity stage is the first step of a three-stage process created by the Home Office to decide an application for EUSS status.
This stage checks that the application has properly been made, that the applicant has applied to the correct scheme, provided the required identity information and submitted the application in the correct way. If an application is not valid it will not be considered further.
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| View and Prove | An online platform which can be used to prove your online immigration status to third parties such as Landlords for ‘Right to Rent’ checks, Employers for ‘Right to Work’ checks, to travel in and out of the UK and other public authorities for access to some benefits and services.
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| Zambrano rights | Zambrano rights apply to a non-EU and EEA EFTA primary carer of a British citizen child or dependent adult, in circumstances where the primary carer would be forced to leave the UK meaning that a British citizen would be forced to leave the European Economic Area (EEA).
A person with Zambrano rights is not within scope of the Agreements but has been able to apply to the EUSS. This route closed to new applications on 8 August 2023. |