Apply for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit to join family in the UK
Overview
You may be able to get an EU Settlement Scheme family permit to come to the UK if you’re the family member of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein. You may also be able to apply if you’re the family member of an eligible person of Northern Ireland.
The family members of some British citizens can also get a permit.
You must be outside the UK to apply.
If you’re coming to the UK from Ukraine
If you have a family member living in the UK, you may be eligible to apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa.
Both the Ukraine Family Scheme and the EU Settlement Scheme family permit will allow you to work and study in the UK.
You can choose which scheme to apply to, but if you apply both to the Ukraine Family Scheme and for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit, it may cause a delay in getting your decision.
If you apply to the Ukraine Family Scheme, you’ll still be able to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, if you’re eligible, once you’re in the UK.
What family permits are for
A family permit makes it easier to travel with your family member to the UK or to join them there.
It lets you come to the UK for up to 6 months. You can work and study, and come and go as many times as you want before the permit expires.
Without one, you might not get a boarding pass or may be refused entry into the UK.
You can apply to stay longer in the UK if you’re eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme.
Applying to the EU Settlement Scheme
You can either:
- apply for a family permit before you come to the UK, and then apply to the EU Settlement Scheme once you’re here
- apply to the EU Settlement Scheme from outside the UK, if you’re eligible
You can only apply to the EU Settlement Scheme from outside the UK if you’re eligible and either:
- you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have a valid passport or national identity card with a biometric chip
- you’re from somewhere else and you have a UK-issued biometric residence card (if it has not expired)
Otherwise, you will need to apply for a family permit to come to the UK.
Who can apply
There are different ways you can be eligible for a family permit. How you apply depends on how you’re eligible.
If you’re the family member of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
You can apply for the permit if your family member started living in the UK by 31 December 2020. This includes family members who have British citizenship, if they also have:
- their citizenship from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and if they lived in the UK using their free movement rights before becoming a British citizen (also known as a ‘Lounes’ case)
- dual nationality with an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and they settled in the UK before 16 July 2012 without using their free movement rights (also known as a ‘McCarthy’ case)
You can also apply if your family member lives outside the UK but regularly works in the UK (also known as a ‘frontier worker’).
Find out about applying as a family member of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
You might still be eligible if you were living with your family member in the UK before 31 December 2020 but they have died, left the UK or the relationship has broken down. This is also known as having ‘retained the right of residence’.
If you’re living outside the UK with a British citizen
You may be able to apply as the family member of a British citizen if all of the following apply to you:
- you’re currently living with your family member in an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
- you were living there with them by 31 December 2020, or you were born or adopted there since then
- your family member will be in the UK when you apply, or will travel there with you up to 6 months later
This is also known as a ‘Surinder Singh’ application.
The deadline for most family members to apply was 29 March 2022. You can still apply if you have ‘reasonable grounds’ for not applying by then - for example because of a medical condition.
You must apply for a family permit before you can return to the UK.
Find out about applying as a family member of a British citizen.
If you’re the family member of an eligible person of Northern Ireland
You can apply if you have a family member who is an eligible person of Northern Ireland.
To be eligible, your family member must be an Irish, British or dual British and Irish citizen who was born in Northern Ireland.
When they were born, they must also have had a parent who held British, Irish or dual citizenship (or had no restriction on how long they could stay in Northern Ireland).
Find out about applying if you have a family member who is an eligible person of Northern Ireland.
Fees
It is free to apply for the permit.
After you’ve applied
If your application is successful, check how long your permit lasts and when you can apply to stay longer in the UK.