The UK is due to leave the European Union (EU) on 1 January 2021. Free support is now available until the end of March for any EU residents who live in the borough and are planning to stay after Brexit.

Many EU residents have already applied for European Union Settled Status (EUSS) but, for those who have not, there is still time. The deadline is 30 June 2021, but you must have started living in the UK by 31 December 2020.

The government has extended the funding to organisations providing support to those seeking EU settled status until the end of March 2021. So, you can still seek help.

This means that local support is still available for those who may have concerns about settled status or their immigration status, via Ealing Law Centre and West London Equality Centre:

• Initial enquiries: Contact West London Equality Centre by calling 0800 056 4745 or emailing EUSS@WLEC.NET – if necessary, you might be referred to Ealing Law Centre
• Complex cases: Individuals and families with complex issues and organisations assisting with complex cases are requested to contact Ealing Law Centre by calling 020 8579 4598 (and choose the immigration option) or emailing info@ealinglaw.org.uk – or you can visit the Ealing Law Centre website and request help.

More about settled status

Those who already have five years’ continuous lawful residency in the UK will be eligible to apply for settled status. Others will be able to remain in the UK to build-up five years’ continuous residence, provided they apply for pre-settled status.

The deadline for applying is 30 June 2021, though you must have started living in the UK by 31 December 2020. Irish citizens do not need to apply for settled status.

EU citizens and their family members who obtain settled status in the UK will be granted indefinite leave to stay. Family members is defined as spouses (husband/wife), civil partners and durable partners, dependent children and grandchildren, and dependent parents and dependent grandparents.

Indefinite leave to remain provides the same rights and access to benefits, education and healthcare as those who have acquired permanent status.

Prior to the 30 June application deadline, eligible citizens can continue to access benefits and services on broadly the same basis as now, regardless of whether they have secured settled status.

Find more information about exiting the EU and UK residence for residents and businesses on the council’s website.

The full impact of Brexit on EU citizens living in the UK will not be known until the negotiations between the UK and the EU are completed. Individual circumstances could vary and, in some circumstances, residents adversely affected by Brexit may benefit from seeking independent legal advice. More information can be found on European Union settled status on the council’s website.

‘We want you to stay’

Read the blog on this subject by the leader of Ealing Council, Councillor Julian Bell, in February, when he said: “Ealing Council believes diversity is one of the borough’s greatest strengths and the council has been flying the European flag above Ealing Town Hall in solidarity with you all for some time now. You make fantastic contributions to life in our borough, to our local economy and to our communities here. We do not want Brexit to cause you to leave. As I have stated before, we want you to stay.”