EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit 

A Family Permit is a document that is permanently affixed to a blank page in your passport in order to assist you to enter the United Kingdom as a family member of a qualifying British Citizen, a Swiss citizen, a citizen of a contracting state to the European Economic Area agreement, or an eligible person of Northern Ireland.

Who is eligible to apply?

You may be eligible to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit if you’re the close family member of an EEA or Swiss national or a qualifying British Citizen. An EEA or Swiss National must usually have a ‘pre-settled’ or ‘settled’ status under the EU Settlement Scheme. You can also apply if you’re the ‘close’ family member of an eligible person of Northern Ireland.

If you need legal assistance, our qualified lawyers can help you with a family permit matter. We offer both a legal advice service and an application service.

CONTACT US NOW to discuss how we can help you with an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit matter.

Please see the requirements for a Family Permit below:

You can apply for an EU Settlement Program Family Permit to come to the UK if:  

  • you’re a close family member of a qualifying British Citizen, an EEA or Swiss citizen or an eligible person of Northern Ireland; and
  • the person you’re joining must be already in the UK or travelling to the UK no later than 6 months from the date you submit your application.

The person you’re joining must also either be:

  • an EEA or Swiss citizen with either a ‘pre-settled’ status under the EU Settlement Scheme or ‘settled’ status, or be eligible if they were to apply for it;
  • an eligible person of Northern Ireland;
  • an Irish citizen;
  • a British citizen who also has EEA or Swiss citizenship and who lived in the UK as an EEA or Swiss citizen before getting British citizenship; or
  • a British citizen with whom you lived with in another EEA country or Switzerland on or before 31 December 2020. The British citizen must have been working, self-employed, studying, or self-sufficient in the country where you lived together.

To be an eligible person of Northern Ireland, the person you are joining must:

  • Have been born in Northern Ireland
  • Have a British, Irish or dual British and Irish citizenship
  • have at least one parent who carried British, Irish, or dual citizenship (or without any restriction on their period of residence) at the time of their birth

Qualifying as a ‘close’ family member 

  • You can apply as an unmarried partner if you can demonstrate that you were living together in a relationship similar to a marriage or civil partnership for at least two full years prior to 31 December 2020.
  • If you do not qualify as an unmarried partner, you must evidence you are the person’s spouse or civil partner or related to them (or to their spouse or civil partner) as their child or grandchild under 21 years old, or dependent child or grandchild of any age.
  • dependent parent or grandparent
  • If you are relying on your relationship to a British Citizen, then your relationship must have existed prior to 1 February 2020. If you are relying on a relationship with anyone else, then your relationship must have existed on or before 31 December 2020, unless you are a child who was born or adopted after this date.

If your application is approved more than 3 months before your planned arrival date, your family permit will be valid for 4 months from your planned arrival date. If your application is approved less than 3 months before your planned arrival date, your family permit will be valid for 6 months from the date of decision on your application.

There are no costs to lodge an application.

You can re-enter the UK as many times as you need whilst your permit is valid.  

You are permitted to work in the UK with a family permit.

You are allowed to remain in the UK after your family permit expires if you meet certain eligibility criteria: 

  • The person you’re joining must either:
    • Be in the UK already; or
    • Be travelling with you to the UK within 6 months of the date of your application.
  • You must also apply for a status under the EU Settlement Scheme within 3 months of arriving in the UK on your family permit.

Where can you apply from initial entry clearance from?

You must apply for initial entry clearance from your country of residency and not from within the UK. We do not recommend that you book any travel to the UK until you are in receipt of a valid permit. There is no standard processing time for EU Settlement Scheme Family permits. UK Visas & Immigration will simply make a decision as soon as they are able to which can take any length of time.

There is no deadline for these applications, and the deadline to apply for a status under the EU Settlement Scheme does not apply to joining family members.

If you require assistance with the EU Settlement Scheme and Family Permits, please GET IN TOUCH for a quote.

Our skilled & friendly lawyers will be happy to assist by providing a legal advice session or we can help you apply for a permit.