Most EU settlement scheme applicants allowed to stay in UK
MORE THAN 3.5m applications have now been received for the EU settlement scheme, according to the Home Office.
EU citizens are asked to apply by June next year in order to carry on living and working in the UK after freedom of movement with the European Union ends.
A decision has been made on more than 3,147,140 applications, leaving a backlog of 321,530 which are still to complete.
Some 58 per cent (1,813,390) of concluded applications were granted settled status – giving them permanent leave to remain living and working in the UK.
While 41 per cent (1,299,350) were given pre-settled status, where they would need to re-apply again after living in the country for five years to gain permanent residence.
There have been 23,740 applications which were withdrawn or “void”, 10,030 classed as invalid and 640 refused, according to the figures.
The department said 3.56m was the best approximate up-todate figure available for applicants and it was unable to give a specific number from the internal data calculations.
The news comes after last month immigration experts warned gaps in Government data were making it difficult to know whether the scheme was working or not.
According to official data published on Thursday, some 3,468,670 applications were received by the end of March.
This is slightly lower than previous estimates.
But the Home Office document said published figures “may not necessarily match monthly totals” as they are all experimental, meaning the exact numbers are provisional and yet to be finalised.
Some 493,800 applications were for children and 78,850 were from people aged 65 and over.
Northern Ireland had a “noticeably higher proportion” (18 per cent) of applications from those under the age of 18 compared to the rest of the UK.
In March, the number of applications being submitted and finalised each dropped by more than 100,000, showing the lowest monthly totals since June last year.
But Home Secretary Priti Patel told MPs the scheme was a “success” and she saw no reason for an extension as there is still just over a year left to apply.
She insisted support for applicants had not stopped and the Home Office was still receiving around 2,000 applications every day.