Apply for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit to join family in the UK

Apply if you have ‘retained the right of residence’

You may be able to apply for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit if you previously had the right to live in the UK through an eligible family member, but your family member has died, left the UK, or the relationship has broken down. This is called having ‘retained the right of residence’.

You may have ‘retained the right of residence’ if:

your eligible family member died
you’re their child, they died or left the UK, and you are in education in the UK
you’ve had a child with them, they died or left the UK, and the child is in education in the UK
they divorced you or a member of your family
the relationship has broken down permanently because of domestic violence or abuse

Eligible family members

To give you the right to live in the UK, your family member needs to be a citizen of an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020.

You must also have lived in the UK with your eligible family member before they died, left the UK, or the relationship broke down.

If your family member has died

You can apply if you lived continuously in the UK as their family member for at least one year immediately before their death.

You can also apply if:

you lived in the UK as their family member immediately before their death
they were living in the UK as a worker or self-employed person at the time of their death
they’d been living in the UK for at least 2 years immediately before their death

If they died as the result of an accident at work or occupational disease, they do not have to have been living in the UK for at least 2 years immediately before their death.

If you’re in education in the UK

You can apply if you’re in education in the UK and your eligible family member is your:

parent who has left the UK or died
parent’s spouse or civil partner who has left the UK or died

You must also be able to show that you were in education in the UK immediately before your eligible family member died or left the UK. You must still be in education in the UK.

If you qualify through any of these circumstances, your parent may also be eligible if they have custody of you.

If you or a member of your family was previously married or in a civil partnership

You can apply if you no longer have an eligible family member after the marriage or civil partnership ended with a divorce, annulment or dissolution.

You must have lived in the UK when the marriage or civil partnership ended.

One of the following must also apply:

the marriage or civil partnership lasted for at least 3 years and the couple had both been living in the UK for at least one year during that time
you have custody of your previous family member’s child
you have been given right of access in the UK to your previous family member’s child and the child is under 18
you or another family member have experienced particularly difficult circumstances - for example, as the victim of domestic violence or abuse in the marriage or civil partnership

You can also apply if a family member had an eligible marriage or civil partnership and you lived in the UK when it ended. You must be their:

child or grandchild under 21
dependent child or grandchild over 21
dependent parent or grandparent

If you are a victim of domestic violence or abuse

You can apply if your relationship with an eligible family member has broken down permanently because of domestic violence or abuse that happened while you were in the UK.

You can apply if you are or were their:

spouse or civil partner
unmarried partner
child or grandchild under 21
dependent child or grandchild over 21
dependent parent or grandparent

Documents you must provide

You must provide proof of your identity, which can be either:

a valid passport
a valid national identity card, if you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

You may be able to use other proof of your identity and nationality if you cannot provide either of these because of a ‘compelling practical or compassionate’ reason. For example, you cannot travel to get this document because of an illness.

When you apply, you will need to explain why you cannot provide a passport or national identity card, and provide supporting evidence.

You must also provide:

your family member’s valid passport, or valid national identity card if they’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
evidence of your relationship to them, for example a marriage certificate, civil partnership certificate or birth certificate
evidence that you have been continuously resident in the UK

Evidence if your family member has died

You’ll also have to provide:

their death certificate - you’ll need to provide evidence of the cause of death if they died as a result of an accident at work or from an occupational disease
evidence of your, and your family member’s, residence in the UK
evidence of their employment or self-employment, where you’re dependent on this

Evidence if you or a child you have custody of is in education in the UK

Where appropriate, you will have to provide evidence that:

your family member died or left the UK
you were in education in the UK at the time your family member died or left the UK, and you’re still in education in the UK
you have custody of a child who was in education in the UK at the time their family member died or left the UK, and the child is still in education in the UK

Evidence if you or a member of your family was previously married or in a civil partnership

Where appropriate, you will have to provide evidence that:

the marriage or civil partnership ended in divorce, annulment or dissolution
the marriage or civil partnership lasted for at least 3 years, and you’d been living together in the UK for at least a year during that time
you have custody of or the right of access to the child of your previous family member
you or another family member have experienced particularly difficult circumstances - for example, as the victim of domestic violence or abuse in the marriage or civil partnership

Evidence if you are a victim of domestic violence or abuse

You will have to provide evidence that:

the family relationship has broken down permanently as a result of domestic violence or abuse
you were living in the UK when that family relationship broke down