Can I lose my family member pre-settled status if my EU sponsor’s status is curtailed or cancelled?

What is curtailment?

Curtailment or cancellation is when the Home Office removes your EU settlement scheme status for a reason that is allowed under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. Curtailment and cancellation effect pre-settled status holders, as it is harder to remove settled status. Pre-settled status can be removed in these situations:  

• If you spend too long outside the UK (read about absence rules for the EUSS)
• If you committed fraud or deception in getting your status (or helped someone else fraudulently get status)
• If you are in, or helped someone else, enter a sham marriage / civil partnership 
• If the Home Office concludes the status was “granted in error” (i.e. the status was originally given by mistake)
• If you are a sponsored family member and your family relationship breaks down, or your EU sponsor leaves the UK (and there is no “retained right of residence”)
• If you are a sponsored family member and your EU sponsor’s status is curtailed or cancelled for one the above reasons.

A decision to curtail applies if you are in the UK at the date of decision. A cancellation decision applies if you are outside the UK at the date of decision. Essentially, both terms mean the same thing; the Home Office is removing the status. We use the term curtailment throughout to cover both curtailment and cancellation decisions. 

What happens if my EU family member’s status is curtailed? 

If you are a family member sponsored under the EU settlement scheme you are given rights based on your EU sponsor. This means you rely on having an EU sponsor for your own status. Therefore, if the EU sponsor’s status is curtailed, you or any other family members under that EU sponsor could have their status curtailed too. This means, if the EU sponsor loses their status, the whole family could lose their status as well. However, family members do not automatically lose their status just because their EU sponsor does. There are several points that could impact this: 

• Family members given settled status are usually not affected if their EU sponsor is deported from the UK (the deportation would end the EU sponsor’s status).
• Family members may have a ‘retained right of residence’ even if their EU sponsor loses their status, or stops being their family member (e.g. when a married couple divorce)
• It may not be fair to remove a family members’ status even though their EU sponsor has lost their status.

If the above situations do not apply, the Home Office will likely curtail the status of family members that are linked to the EU sponsor. However, Home Office guidance explains that before curtailing a family member’s status, decision makers must check if there are any good reasons for the family member to keep their status. 

How will the Home Office notify me that my status could be curtailed? 

The Home Office will notify you that they may be curtailing your status by emailing you a ‘minded to curtail notice’. This notice should explain the reason why your EU sponsor’s status was curtailed (e.g. because of fraud or being absent from the UK for too long). The notice will allow you to submit reasons why your status should not be curtailed now your EU sponsor has lost their status. You have 28 days to respond to the notice. If you need more time to reply, you can contact the Home Office Resolution Centre to ask for this. 

What can I say to avoid my status being curtailed? 

You will likely need to get legal advice if you receive a minded to curtail notice. It is complicated to prepare a response to the Home Office when the EU sponsor’s status has been curtailed. The response may need to address why your EU sponsor’s status was curtailed, and this can be complex depending on the reason, for example, excessive absences or losing status due to fraud. 

In every case it will be necessary to consider two points: 

1. Do any of the retained rights of residence apply to your situation? For example, if a married couple were divorced before the EU sponsor’s status was curtailed, the ex-spouse may have a retained right based on their marriage ending. 

• If retained rights of residence do not apply, you will no longer fall under the EU settlement scheme. However, it is still necessary to assess if the removal of status would have a disproportionate impact you as the family member. This means looking at factors such as how long you have lived in the UK, your ties to the UK and your home country, how integrated you are and what it would mean to leave the UK (e.g. children having to give up school, losing medical treatment, splitting up families etc.). 

Each case is individual which is why we recommend seeking qualified legal advice.

What happens after I reply to the Home Office? 

If the Home Office accepts that one of the above situations apply, you get to keep your pre-settled status. This allows you to stay for the five-year qualifying period needed to get settled status. 

If the Home Office rejects that any of the situations apply, they will curtail your status. This will mean you no longer have the right to live in the UK. 

A curtailment decision has a right of appeal to the independent immigration tribunal. There are strict deadlines to submitting an appeal. Usually you will have 14 calendar days from the date of curtailment decision if you are in the UK. If you appeal, an immigration judge will choose whether they agree or disagree with the Home Office curtailment decision. 

If you do not appeal the curtailment decision you will need to leave the UK. However, if you want to stay in the UK, it may be possible to apply for an alternative immigration status outside the EU settlement scheme. In this situation, we recommend you seek qualified legal advice to discuss your options.