If you are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and you started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 - or you’re applying to join or remain with your family member who did - you’ll need evidence to prove your:
- identity
- continuous residence in the UK and (unless you’re applying to join a family member) that it started by 31 December 2020
- eligibility to apply after 30 June 2021
- relationship to your family member, and their eligibility or status under the EU Settlement Scheme, if you’re applying to join or remain with them in the UK
You’ll need to provide this proof again when you apply to switch from pre-settled status for settled status.
Proof of identity
If you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you need a valid passport or valid national identity card. You also need to provide a digital photo of your face.
If you’re not from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you need to provide one of the following:
- a valid passport
- a biometric residence card or permit (within its expiry date)
You also need to provide a digital photo of your face. If you do not already have a biometric residence card within its expiry date, you’ll need to provide your fingerprints (but not for children aged 5 and under).
If you do not have any of these you may be able to use other evidence in certain situations. Contact the EU Settlement Resolution Centre if you do not have any of the listed documents.
When you apply, you can either:
- scan your document and upload your photo using the ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app using an Android phone, or an iPhone 7 or above
- send your document in the post and upload your photo using the online application form (you can take this yourself)
If your documents have expired
If your documents have expired and you did not have time to renew them before the 30 June 2021 deadline, you can still apply with:
- an expired passport
- an expired national identity card - if you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen
- documents where the expiry date has been extended because of coronavirus (COVID-19)
Scan your document
You can use the ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app on:
- an Android phone
- an iPhone 7 or above
To scan your document using a phone, you’ll need one of the following:
- a valid passport or biometric national identity card from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
- a UK-issued biometric residence card within its expiry date
You can use someone else’s phone to prove your identity.
Send your document by post
You must send your document by post if you have a:
- passport that is not from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
- biometric residence permit
- a non-biometric national identity card from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
You can send other types of document in the post if you cannot use the ‘ID Document Check’ app.
Evidence of continuous residence
You’ll need to provide evidence of how many years’ continuous residence you have in the UK. This usually decides whether you get settled or pre-settled status.
If you arrived in the UK by 31 December 2020
You can give your National Insurance number to allow an automated check of your residence based on tax and certain benefit records.
If this check shows you’ve been here for 5 years in a row, you will not need to provide any documents as proof of residence. You’ll only need to provide documents if you have been here for 5 years in a row but there is not enough data to confirm this.
The Home Office will tell you immediately after you apply if you need to provide any documents. You should submit photos or scans of your documents through the online application form, rather than sending them by post.
If you arrived after 31 December 2020 or you’re asked for more evidence
Read what documents you can provide if you arrived after 31 December 2020, or you arrived before then but you’re asked to provide more evidence.
There is extra guidance if your continuous residence has been affected by COVID-19, including examples of the evidence you can provide.
Evidence of your eligibility to apply after 30 June 2021
You’ll need evidence to support either:
- why the 30 June 2021 deadline did not apply in your circ*mstances
- your ‘reasonable grounds’ for not applying by the deadline - whether this deadline was 30 June 2021, or later for your circ*mstances
If the 30 June 2021 deadline did not apply
If you’re joining a family member from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and you arrived in the UK on or after 1 April 2021, you’ll need evidence of when you arrived in the UK, for example:
- an inbound travel ticket if it was stamped when you arrived (you cannot use a ticket that has no proof of your arrival, such as an e-ticket)
- transactions taking place inside the UK (in person, not online) after your arrival date
- a letter from a government department, public body or charity confirming a physical meeting - for example, with a job centre, or Citizens Advice
This is to show you’re applying within 90 days of arriving in the UK.
If you were already living in the UK or joined your family member here before 1 April 2021, your deadline to apply was 30 June 2021. You can still apply if you have reasonable grounds for missing the deadline.
You’ll need other types of evidence if you’re applying:
- for your child who was born or adopted in the UK on or after 1 April 2021
- as the family member of an eligible person of Northern Ireland who could not move back to the UK by 31 December 2020 while you remained outside the UK
- before your existing limited leave to enter or remain expires
If you’re exempt from immigration control, or you stop being exempt, you’ll need evidence of:
- the job you have, or had, that means you are or were exempt, such as a copy of your employment contract
- when your job started and finished, if you stop being exempt, such as a letter from your employer
Evidence of your reasonable grounds for missing the deadline
The evidence you can provide depends on why you did not apply by the deadline - whether this deadline was 30 June 2021, or later in your circ*mstances. For example, you can use:
- a letter from a doctor, carer or other healthcare professional, to show your medical grounds or care needs
- court documents or a letter from an organisation supporting victims of domestic violence, to show you were in an abusive or controlling relationship
- a letter from a parent, guardian or local authority, if the application is for a child and they did not know they needed to apply for you
- a letter from a charity or homeless shelter explaining your circ*mstances
If you’re applying to join or remain with a family member in the UK
You will also need to provide evidence of:
- your relationship to your family member from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein - for example, a birth, marriage or civil partnership certificate, or a UK residence card issued based on the relationship
- your family member’s pre-settled or settled status - you may need to prove their eligibility if they have not applied yet
If you have a UK permanent residence document, you do not need to provide any evidence of your relationship.
How to provide your evidence
You can usually scan and submit your evidence through the online application form.
You might be asked to provide the original document or a certified English translation of any document that is not in English.
If you’re not from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and you do not have a biometric residence card (that has not expired), you’ll be asked to make an appointment at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point. This is to provide your biometric information (your fingerprints and a photo, or only a photo for children under 5) when you apply.
When you need to provide more evidence
You’ll need to provide more evidence if:
- you used to have a family member from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 (but you’ve separated, they’ve died or the family relationship has broken down)
- you’re the family member of a British citizen who you lived with in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein - you must have lived with them in that country by 31 December 2020 and returned to the UK with them before you apply
- you’re the family member of a British citizen who is also a citizen of an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and they lived in the UK as a citizen of one of these countries before getting British citizenship
- you have a family member who is an eligible person of Northern Ireland
- you’re the child of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who used to live and work in the UK - you must be in education in the UK
- you’re the family member of a person who is exempt from immigration control
- you’re the family member of a ‘frontier worker’
You’ll also need to provide more evidence if by 31 December 2020 you were the primary carer (or the child of a primary carer) of a:
- British citizen (and you did not have another type of permission to stay in the UK)
- child of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who used to live and work in the UK - the child must be in education in the UK
- self-sufficient child from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
If you have criminal convictions
If you’re 18 or over, the Home Office will check you have not committed serious or repeated crimes, and that you do not pose a security threat.
You’ll be asked to declare convictions that appear in your criminal record in the UK or overseas.
You do not need to declare any of the following:
- convictions that do not need to be disclosed (‘spent convictions’)
- warnings (‘cautions’)
- alternatives to prosecution, for example speeding fines
You’ll also be checked against the UK’s crime databases.
You’ll still be eligible for settled or pre-settled status if you’ve only been convicted of a minor crime.
If you have other convictions, you may still get settled or pre-settled. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
If you’ve been to prison
If you had a right of permanent residence or had 5 years’ continuous residence before you went to prison, you may be eligible for settled status.
If you do not have a right of permanent residence, or 5 years’ continuous residence before you went to prison, you may be eligible for pre-settled status. This only applies if you were released on or before 31 December 2020.
