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Advice bureau plea to EU citizens in Caithness and north-west Sutherland


By Alan Hendry

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All EU citizens and their family members who entered the UK on or before December 31, 2020, and who wish to continue to live, work or study in the UK need to apply for immigration status.
All EU citizens and their family members who entered the UK on or before December 31, 2020, and who wish to continue to live, work or study in the UK need to apply for immigration status.

Caithness Citizens Advice Bureau is urging far north residents who come from European Union countries to ensure they have the correct post-Brexit paperwork to allow them to remain in the UK.

The bureau team is keen to point out that the deadline for applications to the UK government's EU Settlement Scheme is just four months away.

In January 2020 the UK left the EU and entered into a transition period which ended on December 31. During the transition period people from EU countries as well as Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland could continue to enjoy their freedom-of-movement rights as they did before the UK decided to leave the EU.

All EU citizens and their family members who entered the UK on or before December 31, 2020, and who wish to continue to live, work or study in the UK need to apply for an immigration status to remain legally resident.

The Home Office has set up the EU Settlement Scheme to process all the applications. EU citizens and their family members who can prove they have lived in the UK for five years or more will be granted settled status, and those living here for less than five years will be granted pre-settled status. The closing date for applications is June 30 this year.

CAB manager Isobel Mackay said: "We are concerned that there are people in Caithness and north-west Sutherland who are not aware that they should apply to the EU Settlement Scheme and we would like to encourage people to help any EU citizens, particularly those that have lived in this country for many years, to get in touch with us.

"If you are an employer, please ask your staff if they and their family members have applied.

“We would also like to remind anyone who has pre-settled status that they must make a further application at the appropriate time to get settled status. This is not automatic.”

She added: "Across Scotland, CAB has helped more than 11,000 people with their applications and we want to make sure that nobody misses the June 30 deadline."

Caithness CAB can provide free, confidential and impartial advice and support to anyone needing to submit an application and its adviser can be contacted at 01847 894243.


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