If you're not from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland
Updated 15 July 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/entering-the-uk-under-the-eu-settlement-scheme-and-eu-settlement-scheme-family-permit/if-youre-not-from-the-eu-iceland-liechtenstein-norway-or-switzerland
If you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
You must enter the UK with your passport. Your passport should be registered on your UK Visas and Immigration account. You may be delayed at the border if your passport is not registered on your UK Visas and Immigration account.
If you’re a visa national, you will also be asked by your carrier (for example airline or transport provider) to show a valid visa or visa exemption document such as:
- a UK-issued biometric residence card
- an EU Settlement Scheme family permit
- an EU Settlement Scheme travel permit
If you have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme but are waiting for a decision
If you were living in UK by 31 December 2020
You must enter the UK with your passport. Your passport should be registered on your UK Visas and Immigration account. You may be delayed at the border if your passport is not registered on your UK Visas and Immigration account.
Your certificate of application to the EU Settlement Scheme can be confirmed at the border if needed, but you can also bring a copy with you when you travel.
You may also be asked to show evidence that you qualify for status under the EU Settlement Scheme, including evidence that you were continuously resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 and have remained so since. Without such evidence, entry to the UK may be refused.
In addition, you may be asked for evidence of the family relationship on which you rely in your EU Settlement Scheme application (for example, an in-date or expired UK-issued biometric residence card, or EEA or EU Settlement Scheme family permit, showing you have previously been accepted as the family member of the relevant EU, other EEA or Swiss citizen who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020, or other credible evidence of that family relationship). Without such evidence, entry to the UK may be refused.
If you’re a visa national, you will also be asked by your carrier (for example, an airline or ferry operator) to show a valid visa or visa exemption document such as an in-date:
- UK-issued biometric residence card
- EU Settlement Scheme family permit
A certificate of application to the EU Settlement Scheme is not evidence of a visa or visa exemption document.
If you were not living in the UK by 31 December 2020 and have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme as a joining family member
You must enter the UK with your passport. Your passport should be registered on your UK Visas and Immigration account. You may be delayed at the border if your passport is not registered on your UK Visas and Immigration account.
Your certificate of application to the EU Settlement Scheme can be confirmed at the border if needed, but you can also bring a copy with you when you travel.
To enter the UK with a pending joining family member application to the EU Settlement Scheme, you will normally be required to hold an in-date EU Settlement Scheme family permit involving the same sponsor. If that family permit has expired, you can still rely on it for this purpose where you are awaiting a Home Office decision on your EU Settlement Scheme application (but not where that application has been refused and you are awaiting the outcome of an administrative review or appeal). Otherwise, without such evidence, entry to the UK may be refused.
If you’re a visa national, you will also be asked by your carrier (for example, an airline or ferry operator) to show a valid visa or visa exemption document such as an in-date:
- UK-issued biometric residence card
- EU Settlement Scheme family permit
A certificate of application to the EU Settlement Scheme is not evidence of a visa or visa exemption document.
If you have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme while in the UK as a visitor and you leave the UK, you may not be permitted to re-enter the UK pending the outcome of your application, including any appeal.
If you have an EU Settlement Scheme family permit
You must enter the UK with your passport.
You may also be asked to show your EU Settlement Scheme family permit which cannot be expired unless you have already applied to the EU Settlement Scheme.
If you’re a visa national, you will also be asked by your carrier (for example airline or transport provider) to show a valid visa or visa exemption document such as:
• a UK-issued biometric residence card
• an EU Settlement Scheme family permit
If you intend to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme or for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit but have not yet done so
You should apply to the EU Settlement Scheme or for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit from outside the UK if you’re eligible.
Otherwise, you should check if you need a visa.
If you have a document issued under the EEA Regulations 2016
You should apply to the EU Settlement Scheme if you have a:
- permanent residence card
- EEA biometric residence card
You should apply even if your document has not expired.
The deadline for most people to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme was 30 June 2021. You can still apply after the deadline if you can can show reasonable grounds for your delay in applying, and provide supporting evidence.