EU Settlement Scheme: UK tax and benefits records automated check
You can provide evidence of your UK residence using your National Insurance number when you apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
If you use your National Insurance number to help confirm your UK residence in your application, we carry out an automated check of UK tax and some benefits records to help confirm your UK residence. This check is against records held by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Most applicants who provide their National Insurance number do not need to provide any further evidence of their UK residence. If you agree with the result of the automated check, we will not ask you for any further evidence of your UK residence.
If you do not agree with the result of the automated check, this is not a problem. You can add evidence later if you need to. Using your National Insurance number is optional – you do not need to provide your National Insurance number if you don’t have one or you don’t want to.
Your application to the EU Settlement Scheme will not be refused solely based on this automated check. If you do not use your National Insurance number, or if the automated check does not confirm enough UK residence to prove the status that you believe you are eligible for, you can upload photos or scans of documents to your application instead.
We do the same check on your residence whether you use your National Insurance number, upload documents to show your UK residence, or a mixture of both. The status you’re considered for will not be affected by how you prove your UK residence.
The Home Office does not retain the information used in the automated check. Find out more about how we use your personal information during your EU Settlement Scheme application.
If the automated check cannot find evidence of your UK residence
If you do not agree with the result of the automated check, this is not a problem. For example, if the automated check shows that you qualify for pre-settled status, but you believe you’re eligible for settled status.
In your application, you can provide further evidence of residence by uploading photos or scans of documents. We’ll tell you immediately during your application which time periods you’ll need to provide evidence for.
You do not need to upload documents for periods the automated check has already found evidence for.
If the check cannot find any evidence of your UK residence
There may be occasions when the automated check cannot find any evidence of your UK residence.
This may be for a variety of reasons. If this happens it’s not a problem. You’ll need to upload photos or scans of documents to your application instead.
You will not need to provide evidence for your entire UK residence – just enough to show that you qualify for settled or pre-settled status. You should only need to provide 1 document dated in the last 6 months to be granted pre-settled status.
Reasons why the automated check may not find evidence of your UK residence
We may not be able to confirm your UK residence using only the automated check. For example, where a person does not have a complete footprint in the government data sources we’re using.
We may also be unable to match you with government records based on the information you’ve given because:
- the biographical information, such as your name and date of birth, in your application is different to that held by HMRC or DWP. For example, if your employer has provided HMRC with a different spelling of your name or you are known to DWP by another name
- you’re known by other names which you did not include in your online application form when asked, for example your maiden name
- the National Insurance number you provided in your online application form is incorrect
- your employer has not properly registered you for tax
- you’re self-employed and your self-assessment tax returns only go up to the previous tax year which means there will be no self-assessment records for any period after the end of the last tax return
- you were not the main applicant on a benefit claim, for example you were a dependant on a Housing Benefit or Universal Credit claim
We will not be able to tell you why the automated check is unable to cover all your UK residence because doing so may introduce the risk of identity theft and abuse.
How the automated check calculates the period of residence
The automated check starts from the date of your application and works backwards through the previous 7 tax years, looking at each month to see if there is evidence of your UK residence.
Find out more about .
Government data we can use to confirm your UK residence
The automated check uses some HMRC and DWP records to confirm your UK residence. Some of these records will be able to confirm longer periods of residence than others.
Find out more about the .
How we use your personal information
Memoranda of Understanding
Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) have set out the information sharing arrangements between the Home Office and DWP and between the Home Office and HMRC.
EU Settlement Scheme data protection impact assessment
This document outlines the data protection impact assessment for the EU Settlement Scheme.
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Updates to this page
Published 29 March 2019Last updated 2 March 2022 + show all updates
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Added EU Settlement Scheme: data protection impact assessment.
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First published.