EU citizens facing four-month wait for settled status

Monday 03 February 2020

Nearly 7,000 of EU citizens living in the island are still waiting for their Settlement Scheme application to be processed, and new applicants could be waiting for up to four months.

The government has received 10,800 applications to the Jersey EU Settlement Scheme - which enables EU citizens resident in Jersey to continue living in the Island after Brexit - since it opened a year ago, and so far only 3,900 of those have been processed.

To apply to the scheme, which can be done online, EU nationals must submit an application form and provide their passport or national identity card as proof of identity.

Subject to criminality checks, they are either granted a Pre-Settled Status or Settled Status, depending on whether they have lived in Jersey for less or more than five years.

The government said the majority (62%) of the applications have been made by Portuguese nationals, while Polish and Romanian nationals make up 14% and 10% of the total respectively.

Pictured: 6,100 applications are currently outstanding.

To date, 80% of people who have applied have been granted their status without having to submit any additional documentation, and no applications have been refused.

“I’m pleased that so many members of the Island’s EU community have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme," Constable Len Norman, Minister for Home Affairs, said.

"While the scheme is open until 31 December 2020, I would recommend that any EU nationals looking to stay in Jersey beyond that date make their application in good time.”

A government spokesperson confirmed on 31 January that the 3,900 of the 10,000 applications made had been processed. It is estimated that an additional 10,000  EU citizens will apply to the scheme.

The current waiting period from application to completion was approximately four months. However, the government is reviewing the application process in a bid to reduce the waiting time.

"EU citizens who arrive in Jersey before 31 December 2020 will be eligible to the scheme and have until 30 June 2021 to apply," the spokesperson said.

"As long an application is submitted before 30 June 2021, the applicant will remain in Jersey lawfully, even if their status is not granted until after that date."