More than 28,000 of Brighton and Hove's EU citizens have applied for settled status but deadline looms for others

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members who live in Brighton and Hove have been urged to apply for settled status by June 30

Brighton & Hove City Council's Green councillors urged all EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members who were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 to apply for settled status at www.gov.uk/eusettlementscheme.

All EU, EEA and Swiss citizens need to apply to continue to work, study, and access free healthcare and benefits in the UK by June 30.

A new points-based immigration system came into place on 1 January 2021 and everyone arriving into the UK on or after 1 January 2021, will be subject to the new rules.

The Green councillors said figures released by the government show that more than 28,000 of the city's EU citizens have now applied to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Councillor Marianna Ebel, chair of the council’s Brexit working group, said: “I urge all our EU citizens to apply to the scheme. We’re proud that our city is a diverse, welcoming and inclusive European destination and we want EU citizens to continue living, working and visiting our city.

“While we remain clear that Brexit has caused devastation for families and that the need to apply for this scheme is unjust; we want to ensure that our EU family stays in the city.

“We are proud of the work Brighton & Hove City Council has been doing to raise awareness of the scheme and help our residents apply – from purchasing scanners to help with document scanning, to personalised support through partner organisations for vulnerable EU citizens and large scale communication campaigns. But we want to ensure that EU citizens who have not yet had the chance to apply do not miss out.”

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