EUSS Statistics for 30th September 2021

The deadline for EU Settlement Scheme applications has passed on 30th June 2021. Since the start of the Scheme in August 2018 (this includes the initial pilot period, as the Scheme was widely opened to everyone in March 2019) until the end of the application period, there were over 6 million application submitted in the UK. This was significantly a higher number from the initially estimated 3 million (hence the name of the organisation the3million).

This was of course not the end of the Scheme, as there are provisions for late application for those with reasonable grounds to apply. We have covered this topic in a previous blog post. We have been reached by many people who missed the deadline and needed support with late applications, and we were looking forward to learned how this trend looks in the figures.

In late November, the Home Office published more detailed, quarterly statistics and we decided to have a closer look on the figures for Scotland and Scottish local authorities. You can access tables with data on application submitted in Scotland by 30th September 2021 by clicking on the button below:

According to the latest statistics from the Home Office, until 30 September 2021, there have been 299 720 applications to the EU Settlement Scheme submitted in Scotland and 286 300 of them have been concluded.

Out of the concluded applications nearly 57% of them have resulted with settled status and 39% with pre-settled status. Over 4% of concluded applications have other outcome: 4340 applications were refused, 4180 were withdrawn or voided and 3280 were invalid.

13 420 applications (nearly 5% of all submitted applications) were still outstanding as of 30th September 2021.

In the second sheet of our analysis, we have compared the figures from September 2021 with those from June 2021 and calculated the change in each category of applications. We were very much interested in seeing the figures from the first 3 months after the application deadline to how the statistics correspond with our experience. We have decided to point out just a couple of trends in the period mentioned, but we encourage you to have a closer look at the tables and find more details about the EUSS applications in your local authority.

  1. In the first three months after the application deadline we have seen nearly 5 500 application submitted. This is significantly lower comparing to over 30 000 submitted in the busy three months before the deadline, however it shows that the EU Settlement Scheme is far from being over and we can expect that in the next months we can expect more applications to come. These are of course not only from the people who missed the deadline, but also from joining family members and those who need to switch from pre-settled to settled status. Many of them will have the same barriers that we observed before the deadline and thus will need similar assistance. With supporting organisations being funded until the end of March 2022, and unsure about further funding, this creates concern about the fate of EUSS applicants in the future.
  2. The very welcomed trend is a decrease in the number of outstanding applications in Scotland. While there are still hundreds of thousands of applications that have not been yet concluded, the figure in Scotland dropped by 9 880, from 23 300 to 13 420. We must remember, however, that there are still over 10 000 people in Scotland waiting for the outcome of their application, and some of them submitted their application many months ago. Although the number is much smaller, there are still many people left unsure and anxious about their future in this country.
  3. Similar to the previous EUSS statistics from June 2021, more people were granted settled status than pre-settled status, 8 800 versus 4 140, respectively. This is a trend that we will be watching very closely in the future. Unfortunately, it is not possible to conclude from this figures how many people with pre-settled status still need to switch to settled status. We can only hope that there will be sufficient institutional help for them in the next few years, so nobody who managed to secure their future in this country for the time being, will face difficulties to secure it indefinitely.
  4. A lot of applications were again refused after the application deadline (1460) comparing to the June (1330) and March (540) statistics. Out of 4340 refused applications in total, 2790 were refused in just 6 months between April and September 2021. This is nearly 65% of all refusals in the EU Settlement Scheme.