New absence rule for EU Settlement Scheme pre-settled status holders 

On 24 June 2025, the Home Office published a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. Included in this statement is a very welcomed change that significantly simplify the absence rule for pre-settled status holders under the EU settlement scheme (EUSS) to move to settled status. Many of the enquiries we receive are about how the complex absences rules could affect whether a pre-settled status can qualify for permanent settled status. Thankfully, the new absence rule should ensure that many pre-settled status holders who may not have qualified for settled status, will now be able to do so. 

In this article we will explain the absence rule and how the new rule coming into effect on 16 July may affect and benefit pre-settled status holders in their EUSS application process. 

When you hold pre-settled status, you must maintain your ‘continuous residence’ in order to qualify for settled status after completing a “continuous qualifying period” of five years. In most cases the continuous qualifying period begins when the person started living in the UK, not the date that pre-settled status was granted. 

Maintaining continuous residence generally requires six months residence in each 12 months over the five-year continuous qualifying period. The rule allows some exceptions for longer single absence of up to 12 months, for an important reason. This could for example be to study, receive medical treatment or a for a work posting. The rules relating to the Covid-19 pandemic are more flexible and can allow for an absence that exceeds 12 months if justified. 

Once you have completed your five-year continuous qualifying period you are no longer bound by the same rules, as you can be away for up to 5 continuous years (4 years if you are a Swiss citizens or family member of) without losing settled status. 

If your absences exceed what is permitted, even by a few days, under the current approach this means that you cannot move from pre-settled to settled status (although this does not necessarily mean that you lose your existing pre-settled status). 

The new rule coming into effect on 16 July 2025 is set out in the Explanatory Memorandum of the Statement of Changes. It states the following: 

“…these changes enable a pre-settle status holder to be granted settled status where they have been resident in the UK for at least 30 months in total in the most recent 60-month period. This can be any 30 months within that 60-month period.”

This new rule will operate as an alternative to the existing absences rule and in simple terms, means that pre-settled status holders will need to have been resident in the UK for a total of 2.5 years in the most recent five-year period, when they apply for settled status. It can be any 2.5 years within the five years so for example, it does not matter that an absence is in one long period or lots of little periods all added together, as long as the total absence does not exceed 30 months. You do not need to justify the reasons for your absences as long as they do not exceed 30 months.

In practice this means that, if you hold pre-settled status and have lived in the UK for five years but you have absences from the UK within those five years, you should calculate how long your total absence is. If your total absences are less than 2.5 years, you qualify for settled status with the new rules. 

For instance, you moved to the UK in July 2020 and were then granted pre-settled status. You had one extended absence between July 2022 and July 2024, but otherwise in the last five years only had a few short trips out of the UK which did not add up to more 6 months. In this case from July 2025, you will be eligible for settled status as you have not been absent for more than 2.5 years and under the new rules, the fact you have a long absence does not affect your right to upgrade to settled status. 

The new rule may also benefit those who do not yet qualify for settled status because they have more than 2.5 years absences currently, as they may qualify in the future because the calculation is always taken from the most recent 60-month (five-year) period. 

So, for example, if you moved to the UK in July 2020 but in the last five years you have had three years of absences when all your travel outside the UK is combined, you will not meet the new rule in July 2025 because your absences are 36 months which exceeds the 30 months you are allowed. However, because the five-year period is ‘dynamic’, at some point you may become eligible if your total absences drop below 30 months in the most recent five years. It will be important to spend time in the UK to become eligible, and it will require a calculation of when your absences occurred so you know when you drop below the 30 months and can apply. 

The new absence rule is a very welcome and positive change. Several organisations, such as the3million and the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association have advocated to the Home Office that the complexity of the existing rules created difficulties for pre-settled status holders to move to settled status, and that a change in policy should be taken to assist EU citizens and their families secure permanent residence.

These concerns are acknowledged in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Statement of Changes as a reason for the updated rules. It explains that confusion about permitted absences for pre-settled status holders has caused some people to unintentionally break their continuous residence, making them ineligible for settled status. 

In addition, under the current rules, some people with pre-settled status cannot qualify for settled status because they have been absent from the UK for slightly too long. However, if the breach of the existing absences rule is relatively minor, it is unlikely that their pre-settled status can be taken away, as doing so would be disproportionate (and thus removing the status is not permitted). This leaves them stuck in a limbo; they cannot get the more secure settled status as they are not eligible, but they will also continue to have pre-settled status in the UK as it cannot be taken away.

To address these problems, the Home Office has created a pragmatic and flexible solution that will likely avert unjust outcomes for pre-settled status holders who might not have been able to upgrade to settled status. It also should allow pre-settled status holders who have committed to living in the UK time to complete a five-year continuous qualifying period and qualify for settled status, even if right now they may not meet the eligibility requirements.

As noted, the new absences rule will benefit some pre-settled status holders who under the existing rules cannot qualify for settled status. This includes those who have previously been refused settled status because they were deemed to have broken continuous residence. With the new rule, even if you were refused in the past, you can now be granted settled status if you meet the condition of being a resident in the UK for at least 30 months in total in the most recent 60-month period. The new rules should also make it easier for pre-settled status holders who do meet the current rules, because it removes the need to justify absences that have exceeded six months in a 12-month period. 

The new change also allows the Home Office to apply the new rule to automatic grants of settled status (where you don’t make an application, but your HMRC/DWP records – checked using your National Insurance number – show you qualify). This means pre-settled status holders with sufficient National Insurance records may be granted settled status automatically, once the new rules are applied to the automation process.

However, as an automation assessment only takes place once the existing pre-settled status approaches the expiry date, it may be advisable to make a manual application for settled status rather than wait for an automated decision (e.g. if the pre-settled status expiry date is months or years away). 

Finally, if you do not have status under the EU Settlement Scheme and you are making a late application, you will need to show that you meet the current residence requirements as you cannot rely on the new rule, which only applies to those who already hold pre-settled status. However, if you are granted pre-settled status, you can rely on this new rule for your future application for, or automatic conversion to settled status. 

You can learn more in the upcoming webinar hosted by the3mllion where our own Chris Benn will answer questions about the changes to the absences rule. 

If you are an EU citizen or a family member with pre-settled status and you are unsure how this change may affect or benefit you, it may be beneficial to speak to an immigration lawyer before making an application.