Council help for local European citizens

European citizens living in Croydon are being urged to apply for settled status post-Brexit and contact the council if they need help.

Britain is set to formally leave the European Union (EU) on 31 January, and Croydon Council offers free support for local EU citizens who need help applying for permanent settled status.

Of around 33,000 people living or working in the borough who are citizens of other EU countries, around 11,000 so far have applied for settled status.

The settled status deadline is 30 June 2021 but the council is urging local European citizens to apply before 31 December 2020 when Brexit transition rules are set to end.

Settled status applications are for EU, European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals who have lived and worked in the UK continually for five years. Anyone with less than five years can apply for pre-settled status. This then becomes settled status when they reach five years’ continuous residency.  Parents also need to remember that they need to apply for any of their children that are EU nationals.

Currently, the council’s registrars based at the town hall help between 15 and 40 applicants a week. The council also helps EEA national care leavers and children looked-after to apply for settled status.

The council website also provides useful links to key information regarding Brexit planning for both residents and businesses.

On 23 September the council hosted a free advice session at Croydon Clocktower where representatives from the European Commission gave advice about applying for settled status for around 40 non-British citizens of EU countries, non-EU countries in the EEA or Switzerland.  A further event is being planned.

“Tens of thousands of EU citizens call this borough home or work here, and Croydon will continue to be open to them as friends, work colleagues and neighbours.

“Many of these people have already applied for settled status, but if you need support or advice with applying then council staff are here to help.”

Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the council

For more information on Brexit, visit the council website.

For information on the EU Settlement Scheme in other European languages, visit the Government website.

 

2020-01-22T11:22:21+00:00 January 22nd, 2020|Recent news|