Check if your family members can get pre-settled status or settled status

If you have close family members who aren’t British citizens, they can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme in some situations.

Close family members are your:

• husband, wife, civil partner or long-term partner

• dependent parents or grandparents

• children or grandchildren under 21 years old

• dependent children over 21 years old

Your close family members can only apply to the EU Settlement Scheme if either of the following apply:

• you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen who got British citizenship after you came to the UK - this is called ‘naturalising’

• you were born in Northern Ireland 

They might also be able to apply if you lived with your close family member in the EU, EEA or Switzerland while the UK was part of the EU. In this case, the deadline for your family member to apply was 29 March 2022, so they’ll need to make a late application. Their application will only be accepted if there’s a good reason they applied late - for example if they were too ill to come to the UK earlier.

Talk to an adviser if you’re in one of these situations.

If your family member wants to come and live in the UK, they’ll need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme or for Irish citizenship if they’re eligible. Check if your family member can get Irish citizenship on Citizens Information - this is an advice website run by the Irish government.

If your family member wants to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll need to check if they’re eligible.

If you were born in Northern Ireland

Your family members can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme if all the following apply:

• you have Irish or British citizenship - or both

• when you were born, one of your parents had Irish or British citizenship - or an immigration status that let them live in the UK permanently

• you started living in the UK by 31 December 2020

You can find out more about bringing your family members to the UK if you were born in Northern Ireland on GOV.UK.

If your child is under 21, they can apply for a family permit or to the EU Settlement Scheme. Your child includes your step-child, adopted child, grandchild and great-grandchild.

If your child was born after 31 December 2020, you can still apply to the EU Settlement Scheme for them.

You can apply for your child or they can apply for themselves. You’ll need to prove how they’re related to you.

Proving your child’s relationship to you

If your child is an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you should use their birth or adoption certificate to prove their relationship to you. If the child is your grandchild or great-grandchild, you also need birth certificates that prove your relationship to their parent.

If your child is from outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you should use their residence card to prove their identity. This means you don't have to prove their relationship to you because you proved it when you applied for the card.

If they don't have a residence card, you should use:

• their birth certificate

• their adoption certificate

• their guardianship order - it’s important to get permission from the court that issued the order before you share it with the Home Office

• a family permit

• their birth certificate and your marriage or civil partnership certificate - if they’re your step-child

• birth certificates that prove your relationship to their parent - if you’re their grandparent or great-grandparent

If you care for a child - for example, a foster child or a niece or nephew - the deadline for them to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme was 30 June 2021. They can make a late application to the scheme if both:

• they have a residence card as an extended family member

• they applied for the card by 31 December 2020

Check if your child has British citizenship

Your child might already be a British citizen if  they were born in the UK or they have a British parent. You can check if your child is already a British citizen.

If your child is already a British citizen, you can apply for a British passport for them on GOV.UK.

They can only apply for a family permit or to the EU Settlement Scheme if they're dependent on you. 

This includes your:

• step-child - you must have married or entered a civil partnership with their other parent before 1 January 2021

• adopted child - you must have adopted them before 1 January 2021

• grandchild or great-grandchild

Your child is dependent on you if they can't meet their basic needs without your financial support or care - they could be in full-time education, disabled or ill.

Your child will need to prove their relationship to you and prove they’re dependent on you. 

Proving their relationship to you

Your child can prove their relationship to you using:

• their birth or adoption certificate

• their guardianship order

• a residence card

• a family permit

If the child is your step-child, they’ll need their birth certificate and your marriage or civil partnership certificate.

If they’re your grandchild or great-grandchild, they’ll need birth certificates proving your relationship to their parents and grandparents.

Proving they're dependent on you

If your child got a residence card as a dependent child, they don’t need to prove they’re dependent on you again.

If your child doesn’t have a residence card, they’ll need to prove they depend on you to pay for their basic needs. 

The best way to prove your child is dependent on you is to prove you were sending money to them outside the UK. They could use bank statements showing:

• rent or mortgage payments for their home

• regular payments you make to them - for example, school or college fees

• payments to meet their medical needs

They can use their bank statements or yours.

If your child is disabled or ill, they also need to prove this is why they depend on you. The best way to prove this is with a letter from a hospital or your family doctor.

Your husband, wife or civil partner can apply for a family permit or to the EU Settlement Scheme if either:

• you got married or formed a civil partnership by 31 December 2020

• you had lived together for at least 2 years by 31 December 2020

They’ll need to prove their relationship with you. They can do this using:

• a residence card

• a residence card inside their passport - if they applied for it based on your relationship

• a family permit

• your marriage or civil partnership certificate 

• a registration certificate - if they applied for it based on your relationship

Your partner can still use a registration certificate to prove their relationship with you, even if it’s not valid anymore.

Your long-term partner can apply for a family permit or to the EU Settlement Scheme if either:

• you had lived together for at least 2 years by 31 December 2020

• there’s evidence you’re in a long-term relationship - for example, you had a child together by 31 December 2020

Your partner will need to prove their relationship with you. They can do this using a residence card or a family permit.

If they don’t have a residence card or a family permit, they can use things like:

• joint bank statements

• joint utility bills

• joint mortgage statements or the written statement of your occupation contract

• your child’s birth certificate

Your parents and grandparents can apply for a family permit or to the EU Settlement Scheme if they’re dependent on you.

Your parents and grandparents include your adoptive parents and great-grandparents, and those of your husband, wife or civil partner.

Your parents and grandparents will need to prove their relationship to you. They can do this using:

• a residence card

• a family permit

• your birth certificate or adoption certificate - if they're your parent

• birth or adoption certificates for you and a parent - if they're your grandparent

• birth or adoption certificates for you, a parent and grandparent - if they're your great-grandparent

If they're a family member of your husband, wife or civil partner, they also need to show proof of this relationship - for example your marriage certificate.

You’ll also need to prove your parent is dependent on you because of their age or if they have a disability or illness. You can prove this by using:

• evidence they’re financially dependent on you - for example, bank statements showing money you’ve sent them

• evidence they depend on you for care or support - for example, a letter from their doctor

Your other family members can’t usually apply to join you in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme - the deadline for them to apply was 30 June 2021. If they have a residence card or family permit, they might be able to make a late application to the scheme - they must have applied for the card or permit by 31 December 2020. Your family member can check if they can make a late application.

Your other family members are your:

• brothers or sisters

• aunts or uncles

• nephews or nieces

• cousins

If your brother or sister is dependent on you

They might be able to get a visa to live in the UK if they’re dependent on you because of their age or if they have a disability or illness.

They can only apply for a visa if you have either:

• settled status 

• pre-settled status and you arrived in the UK by 31 December 2020

These visas are expensive and difficult to get - if your brother or sister is thinking of applying for one, talk to an adviser.

You can find out more about visas for dependent adult relatives on GOV.UK.

If their residence card is valid, they should apply to the EU Settlement Scheme as a family member before they come to the UK.

When they’ve got pre-settled or settled status, they can come and live in the UK.

Find out more about applying to the EU Settlement Scheme from outside the UK on GOV.UK.

If your family member comes to the UK before they apply

It might be hard for your family member to enter the UK using their residence card. This is why it’s a good idea for them to get pre-settled or settled status before they arrive. 

If your family member does enter the UK using their residence card, they must apply to the EU Settlement Scheme within 28 days of arriving.

If your family member’s residence card has expired

Your family member can’t apply to the EU Settlement Scheme from outside the UK if they don’t have a valid residence card.

If your family member is in this situation they should apply for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit on GOV.UK. They can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme when they arrive in the UK.

Your family member usually needs to get an EU Settlement Scheme family permit to come to the UK. They don’t need a permit if they already have a valid family, work or student visa.

They need to be outside the UK to apply for the permit. It’s free to apply for the permit. 

Your family member can only apply for the permit if you have pre-settled or settled status.

The permit doesn’t give your family member the right to claim benefits or get help with housing in the UK. They might get these rights when they apply for or get pre-settled or settled status.

Applying for a family permit

When your family member applies for the permit, they must include English translations of any documents that are in another language.

The length of time your family member’s permit will be valid depends on when they apply for it.

If your family member applies for a permit more than 3 months before they plan to travel to the UK, it will be valid for 4 months. The 4 months starts from the day they arrive in the UK.

If your family member applies for a permit less than 3 months before they plan to travel to the UK, it will be valid for 6 months. The 6 months starts from the day their family permit application was approved.

Your family member can apply for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit on GOV.UK.

Applying to the EU Settlement Scheme

Your family member must apply for pre-settled or settled status within 3 months of arriving in the UK.

If their family permit expires before they get a decision on their EU Settlement Scheme application, they can use their application certificate to prove their rights in the UK.

Your family member will usually get their certificate by email after they apply for pre-settled or settled status. They’ll get the certificate by post if they applied on a paper form.