Who can benefit from the Windrush Scheme in 2026?

The Windrush scandal affected thousands of people, particularly commonwealth citizens from the Caribbean.  Even though they have lived in the UK for decades, many have never been able to prove their right to remain in the UK, facing serious consequences as a result. Two separate schemes now exist to address this: one to confirm status to remain in the UK and one to claim compensation for what was lost. 

A recent presentation delivered to the EUSS Alliance, explored how this scheme works, who can benefit and how it may be useful in other immigration matters. 

What is the Windrush scandal? 

The Windrush scandal speaks to the importance of being able to prove your legal rights in the UK.

Between 1948 and 1973, people with status as “citizens of the UK and colonies” under UK legislation arrived in the UK to live and work after an appeal for workers from the UK to combat the post-war labour shortage. These individuals and their family members are often referred to as the Windrush generation, many of which arrived from the Caribbean. 

The Windrush generation were entitled to live in the UK permanently but were given no documentation to prove this right. As hostile environment polices were brought in, citizens were increasingly asked for documentation of status.  Many of this ‘generation’ were wrongly treated as having no legal rights. As a result, they were denied access to health care, education, employment and other essential services. Some were even deported despite their legal right to remain in the UK. In 2018 it was concluded that the distress and difficulty these individuals and their families had faced was completely preventable yet had been ignored. As a result, the Windrush scheme was introduced.

What is the Windrush Scheme and who is it for? 

In short, the Windrush scheme was set up in 2019 to support victims of the scandal. It is for long term residents of the UK who are lawfully settled but have no proof of their status and have suffered losses as a result. 

The scheme is twofold. It aims to; 

• Compensate those impacted for their losses and;
• Help individuals get documentation to prove their right to remain in the UK. 

It is free to apply and there are no deadlines. 

To be eligible for the scheme you must either be: 

• A Commonwealth citizen who was settled in the UK by 1973 and granted ILR by the 1971 Immigration Act but given no documentation; 
• A child of a commonwealth citizen as above, who were born here or came here before they were 18; or
• An individual who arrived in the UK from any country before 31 December 1988, has been lawfully settled but been impacted by the inability to prove their rights in the UK. 

What is the Windrush Compensation Scheme? 

The Windrush Compensation Scheme aims to financially compensate people who suffered losses because they couldn’t prove their status. 

This means ‘making up for’ lost employment, housing, access to healthcare, unnecessary immigration fees, workplace pension losses amongst other things. It also includes compensation for impact on life and how the inability to prove legal status has affected livelihood, family life and emotional distress.

Anyone who is impacted by Windrush as well as their family members can apply for compensation. This includes children who may have been impacted, even if the original Windrush victim has since passed away. The scheme allows for family members to claim on behalf of the deceased’s estate. 

What is the Windrush Scheme for documentation?  

The documentation scheme allows individuals to apply for documentation of their residence in the UK. The Windrush team will look through government files both digitised and non-digitised to assess whether it was more likely than not that the individual was in the UK in the relevant period and had a right to live here. 

This means the scheme can help look through school records, employment history, National Insurance records, old passports, medical records, to get the individual proof of their entitlement through e.g. the document itself, evidence of an immigration status, or even evidence that citizenship has been acquired. 

How can the Windrush scheme help prove rights in the UK? 

In our work with EU citizens in the UK, the Windrush scandal is often brought up as a comparison. This is because both groups of people arrived in the UK with legal status which was retrospectively challenged due to changes in law or policy. Both face difficulties in providing legal status without documentation.  

The main route for EU citizens to get legal status in the UK after the implementation of Brexit is through the first fully digital immigration status in the UK, the EU settlement scheme (EUSS). The digital-only scheme has caused much difficulty. Many individuals have been unable to prove their status because of vulnerabilities preventing them from setting up a fully digital account, or because of system issues. The system may show the incorrect status, the wrong name or be inaccessible when most needed. 

This has resulted in EU citizens being unable to access the services and employment to which they are entitled, in a manner not dissimilar to the experiences of those affected by the Windrush scandal.

During the session with EUSS Alliance members, caseworkers were brought together to learn about the Windrush scheme and discuss its potential uses for victims of Windrush and beyond. For EU citizens who have been residents in the UK for a long time the ability to prove their residence in the UK can still cause issue, especially if they experience vulnerabilities.

In an increasingly hostile environment, it becomes important to collaborate across sectors, areas of expertise and explore news ways to support our clients on their immigration journey.

For those working with EU citizens that have vulnerabilities, the Windrush document scheme is an interesting tool to explore as a method for migrants other than direct Windrush victims, to finally prove their residence and rights in the UK.