British Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced that there have been 2 million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme.
The highest number of applications are from Polish, Romanian and Italian citizens, with more than 345,000 Polish citizens applying.
The EU Settlement Scheme is designed to make it straightforward for EU citizens and their family members to stay after the UK leaves the EU.
To apply they only need to complete three key steps – prove their identity, show that they live in the UK and declare any criminal convictions. EU citizens and their family members have until at least December 2020 to apply.
According to the latest official statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme, more than 1,800,000 applications had been received and more than 1,500,000 had been granted status up to the end of September 2019, providing them with an immigration status under UK law.
The statistics also show that more than 1,700,000 applications had been received from EU citizens in England, 92,700 from Scotland, 29,300 from Wales and 28,700 from Northern Ireland.
To help raise awareness of the EU Settlement Scheme at a local level, the Home Office is holding a series of innovative pop-up events across the UK where staff will answer questions and help people to apply in person.
The Home Office will also be launching further advertising activity in the coming weeks to build upon its existing £4 million marketing campaign to encourage EU citizens to apply.
