Legislation – Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025

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Part 2Asylum and immigration

EU Settlement Scheme

45EU Settlement Scheme: rights of entry and residence etc

(1)

For the purposes of this section “relevant citizens’ rights” means the rights, powers, liabilities, obligations, restrictions, remedies and procedures which—

(a)

are recognised and available in domestic law by virtue of section 7A or 7B of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and

(b)

are derived from—

(i)

Title 2 of Part 2 of the withdrawal agreement or Title 1 or 4 of Part 2 of that agreement so far as relating to Title 2 of that Part,

(ii)

Title 2 of Part 2 of the EEA EFTA separation agreement or Title 1 or 4 of Part 2 of that agreement so far as relating to Title 2 of that Part, or

(iii)

Article 4(2), 7 or 8 or Chapter 1 of Title 2 of Part 2 of the Swiss citizens’ rights agreement or Title 1 of Part 2 of that agreement so far as relating to Chapter 1 of Title 2 of that Part.

(2)

Subsection (5) applies to a person (“P”) where—

(a)

P has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom granted by virtue of residence scheme immigration rules,

(b)

the leave was granted to P on the basis of requirements which included that P is a relevant national or is (or was) a family member of a person who is (or was) a relevant national,

(c)

each of the requirements on the basis of which P’s leave was granted was in fact met,

(d)

either—

(i)

in a case where P’s leave was not granted on the basis that P is (or was) a joining family member of a relevant sponsor, P was resident in the United Kingdom or the Islands immediately before the end of the implementation period, or

(ii)

in a case where P’s leave was granted on the basis that P is (or was) a joining family member of a relevant sponsor, the relevant sponsor was resident in the United Kingdom or the Islands immediately before the end of the implementation period, and

(e)

the residency mentioned in paragraph (d) was not relevant residency.

(3)

For the purposes of subsection (2)—

(a)

a person is to be treated as a family member of another person if they are treated as the family member of that person by residence scheme immigration rules;

(b)

“joining family member” and “relevant sponsor” have the same meaning as in residence scheme immigration rules;

(c)

a person is to be treated as resident in the United Kingdom or the Islands immediately before the end of the implementation period even if they were temporarily absent from the United Kingdom or the Islands at that time if their absence was permitted for the purposes of establishing or maintaining eligibility for leave under residence scheme immigration rules;

(d)

“relevant national” means a national of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden or Switzerland.

(4)

In this section “relevant residency” means—

(a)

residency in accordance with Union law (within the meaning of the withdrawal agreement),

(b)

residency in accordance with the EEA Agreement (within the meaning of the EEA EFTA separation agreement), or

(c)

residency in accordance with the FMOPA (within the meaning of the Swiss citizens’ rights agreement).

(5)

Relevant citizens’ rights—

(a)

are capable of accruing and applying to a person to whom this subsection applies notwithstanding that the residency mentioned in subsection (2)(d) was not relevant residency, and

(b)

are to be enforced, allowed and followed accordingly.

(6)

Every enactment (including an enactment contained in this Act) is to be read and has effect subject to subsection (5).

(7)

In this section—

“EEA EFTA separation agreement” has the same meaning as in the
European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (see section 39(1) of that Act);

“enactment” has the same meaning as in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (see section 20(1) of that Act);

“the implementation period” has the same meaning as in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (see section 1A(6) of that Act);

“the Islands” means the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey or the Isle of Man;

“residence scheme immigration rules” has the same meaning as in Part 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (see section 17 of that Act);

“Swiss citizens’ rights agreement” has the same meaning as in the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (see section 39(1) of that Act);

“withdrawal agreement” has the same meaning as in the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (see section 39(1) and (6) of that Act).