Date Legislation considered: 16 April 2026
Date Legislation in force: 29 April 2026 – for the purposes of the changes in relation to Appendix EU
8 April 2026 – for the purposes of the changes in relation to Appendix EU (Family Permit)
Potential Right(s) Affected: Residence
What does the legislation do?
The Immigration Rules are statements by the Secretary of State as to how she will exercise her power to regulate immigration.
The Statement of Changes makes several changes to the Immigration Rules, not all of which are relevant to the EU Settlement Scheme (“EUSS”). This report only considers those key changes that
fall within the remit of the IMA.
The detailed rules for the EUSS are contained in Appendix EU.
The EUSS enables EU, EEA EFTA and Swiss citizens living in the UK by the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, and their relevant family members, to obtain UK immigration status
(either pre-settled status or settled status) to live in the UK.
Appendix EU (Family Permit) governs applications by relevant family members who wish to obtain an EUSS family permit to travel to the UK to join an EU, EEA EFTA or Swiss citizen living here. The
detailed rules are contained in Appendix EU (Family Permit).
The key changes relevant to the EUSS and the work of the IMA are as follows:
Appendix EU
Refusal of EUSS applications on suitability grounds
Paragraph EU16 of Appendix EU has been changed to enable the Secretary of State to refuse an application under the EUSS on suitability grounds where it is more likely than not that, after the end of the transition period, a person has helped another person fraudulently to obtain, or to attempt to obtain, entry clearance to, or leave to enter or remain in, the UK. A decision to refuse an EUSS application on that basis will be subject to a proportionality assessment.
The power to curtail pre-settled status on that basis was introduced by Statement of Changes HC 217. Statement of Changes HC 1691 enables the Secretary of State to refuse an application under the EUSS on the same basis.
Definition of ‘required date’
The definition of ‘required date’ in Annex 1 to Appendix EU provides the date by which an individual must make an application under the EUSS (or then have reasonable grounds for their delay in applying).
The change to the definition means that an application for settled status can be made at any time by an individual who holds pre-settled status. An individual who had, but no longer holds, pre settled status, will not be able to make a further valid application to the EUSS unless they can show reasonable grounds for their delay in applying since 30 June 2021 (or another deadline applicable to their original application).
Where an individual has had their pre-settled status removed by curtailment or cancellation, they will have a right of appeal against that decision.
Definition of ‘specified relevant document’
Changes were made to Appendix EU by Statement of Changes HC 733 so that a non-EEA national applicant to the EUSS was permitted to use a UK-issued biometric residence card or permit which had expired by up to 18 months, as proof of their identity and nationality and, in respect of such a biometric residence card, meaning they were not required to re-enrol their fingerprint biometrics.
The definition of ‘specified relevant document’ in Annex 1 to Appendix EU has been changed by Statement of Changes HC 1691 to extend that scope, from 18 months to 60 months, where an expired biometric residence card is concerned.
Appendix EU (Family Permit)
Additional Validity requirements
Paragraph FP4 has been changed to introduce a new requirement for a person applying for an EUSS family permit to provide evidence about their EU, EEA EFTA or Swiss citizen sponsor where their application under Appendix EU (Family Permit) is made on or after 8 April 2026. This new evidence requirement is referred to as ‘specified sponsor evidence’. It will help the Home Office to establish
whether the application is within scope of the EUSS family permit route.
An application will be rejected as invalid where it does not meet the Validity requirements.
New defined term for ‘specified sponsor evidence’
A definition of ‘specified sponsor evidence’ has been added to Annex 1 of Appendix EU (Family Permit) as a consequential amendment to the new Validity requirement outlined above. To meet the evidential requirement, an applicant must provide:
- Evidence that their sponsor holds status under the EUSS by providing the sponsor’s Home Office reference number or, where that is not relevant, information or evidence which appears to indicate that their sponsor is otherwise in scope of the route as a ‘relevant EEA citizen’; and
- Information or evidence which appears to indicate that the family relationship to their sponsor on which the applicant relies is in scope of the route, for example a valid marriage or civil partnership certificate or a birth certificate.
The changes made by the Statement of Changes are summarised in the Explanatory Memorandum presented to the UK Parliament alongside them.
Comments
The IMA does not raise any issues of concern at this stage.
Any citizen experiencing difficulties in exercising their rights is encouraged to report a complaint through the IMA Portal.
Further information about the IMA and guidance on how to report a complaint can also be found on the Website.