Published on 19 January 2026
Brexit: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
EU Settlement Scheme
Swiss citizens and their family members who were living in the UK up to 31 December 2020, and who wish to remain in the UK, have to hold a residence status under the UK’s EU Settlement Scheme called settled or pre-settled status. The deadline for applications was 30 June 2021. It is possible to make a late application where there are ‘reasonable grounds’ for doing so. For more information on the Settlement Scheme, late applications and other changes for Swiss citizens after Brexit, please find Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below. We appreciate your understanding that the EU Settlement Scheme is exclusively owned and run by the British government and the Embassy of Switzerland cannot give binding information or advice in individual cases.
Last reviewed: 19.01.2026
Swiss citizens living in the UK: Settled and pre-settled status
The Swiss-EU bilateral agreements, including the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, ceased to apply to the UK at the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020. On 1 January 2021 the Swiss-UK Citizens’ Rights Agreement (CRA), negotiated by the Swiss and UK governments, came into effect. It safeguards the rights acquired by Swiss citizens who were living in the UK (and vice versa) before the end of the transition period, i.e. on 31 December 2020. In order to secure these rights, eligible Swiss citizens must hold a new residence status (see Question 2). The CRA covers the following areas:
- Right of exit and of entry
- Right of residence for persons pursuing an economic activity
- Right of residence for persons not pursuing an economic activity
- Family reunification
- Frontier workers
- Rights of persons providing services
- Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality
- Purchase of immovable property
- Coordination of social security systems
- Mutual recognition of professional qualifications
In order to secure entitlements under the Citizens’ Rights Agreement, Swiss citizens and their family members living in the UK up to 31 December 2020 have to hold a new residence status under the EU Settlement Scheme, called settled or pre-settled status, to continue living in the UK after 30 June 2021. Acquiring settled or pre-settled status allows Swiss citizens to continue to live, study and work in the UK, to have access to public funds and services and to go on to apply for British citizenship if they wish to do so. Applications are free of charge. The deadline for applying, for those who had started living in the UK by 31 December 2020, was 30 June 2021. Qualifying individuals can also be joined by close family members (spouses, civil and unmarried partners, dependent children and grandchildren, and dependent parents and grandparents) who live in a different country at any point in the future, if the relationship existed on 31 December 2020 and still exists when the person wishes to come to the UK. See Question 5 for further details. If you have missed the application deadline, please see Question 11.
Swiss citizens married to a British citizen also need to hold the new residence status. However, UK-Swiss dual nationals are not eligible. They already have full rights of residence in the UK.
Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (settled and pre-settled status)
Settled and pre-settled status are the new UK residence status post-Brexit. Swiss citizens (and their family members) wishing to remain in the UK beyond June 2021 need to hold this status.
Acquiring settled or pre-settled status allows Swiss citizens to continue to live, study and work in the UK, to have access to public funds and services and to go on to apply for British citizenship if they wish to do so.
Those who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 and have lived there for a continuous five-year period (‘continuous residence’) should qualify for settled status provided that they apply in time (for late applications, please see Question 11). Continuous residence means that for five years in a row you have been in the UK for at least six months in any 12-month period, except for:
- one period of up to 12 months for an important reason (e.g. childbirth, serious illness, study, vocational training or an overseas work posting)
- compulsory military service of any length
Once you have been granted settled status, you need to make sure that you keep your online status (eVisa) up to date (e.g. if you receive a new passport or a new identity card, or if you change your name, nationality, email address, phone number or UK address).
If you do not have five years’ continuous residence when you make an in-time application, you generally get pre-settled status instead. This means you can stay in the UK for a further five years from the date you get pre-settled status. As soon as you have five years’ continuous residence, you can apply for settled status. You lose your pre-settled status automatically if you spend more than five years in a row outside the UK. You will have lost your pre-settled status automatically if you spent more than two years in a row outside the UK by 21 May 2024, unless you acquired the right to live in the UK permanently. You need to maintain your continuous residence if you want to qualify for settled status in the future. On 16 July 2025 the continuous residence rules for pre-settled status holders converting to settled status were relaxed - for further information see Question 12.
Please note that, while the above conditions continue to be valid, citizens with pre-settled status will have their pre-settled status automatically extended by five years shortly before the end of the initial five-year grant, if they have not already obtained settled status. The process is automated and reflected in the person’s digital status (eVisa). They are notified of the extension directly. This is to ensure that nobody loses their immigration status if they do not apply to switch from pre-settled to settled status. The Home Office is also automatically converting as many eligible pre-settled status holders as possible to settled status once they are eligible for it, without them needing to make an application. Automated checks of pre-settled status are carried out to establish their ongoing continuous residence in the UK.
Furthermore, please note that you will be issued only with digital proof of your settled or pre-settled status in case of successful application through the scheme, known as an eVisa. No physical proof will be issued.
In order to be eligible for settled or pre-settled status under the Swiss-UK Citizens’ Rights Agreement, you have to:
- be a Swiss citizen, or a family member of a Swiss citizen; and
- have been living in the UK prior to the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.
You may be able to apply for settled/pre-settled status from overseas. An application must be made for every eligible child in your family.
The deadline for applications was 30 June 2021. If you have missed the application deadline, please see Questions 9 and 11. For information about joining family members, for whom the deadline of 30 June 2021 may not apply, see Question 5.
Family members who were living with, or joined, Swiss citizens in the UK prior to 31 December 2020 are also eligible for settled or pre-settled status. The deadline for applications was 30 June 2021. If you have missed the application deadline, please see Questions 9 and 11.
However, certain family members who were not living in the UK prior to 31 December 2020 are entitled to join a Swiss citizen living in the UK, who has been granted pre-settled or settled status, anytime in the future, provided that the relationship existed before 31 December 2020 and still exists, and that they fulfil the necessary conditions. If they are from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, they can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) from outside the UK if they hold either a valid passport or an identity card with a biometric chip.
The rights of children born or adopted after 31 December 2020 are also protected. An application for the appropriate status (as a joining family member) needs to be made on their behalf within three months of their birth or adoption (unless they qualify for British nationality from birth/adoption).
Family members do not need to be from Switzerland or the EU to be eligible to apply for settled or pre-settled status; they can come from anywhere in the world.
For the purposes of the settlement scheme, family members are defined as:
- Those who are in a relationship with a Swiss national as their spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner
- Those who are related to a Swiss national, their spouse or civil partner as their:
- child, grandchild or great-grandchild under 21 years old
- dependent child over the age of 21
- dependent parent, grandparent or great-grandparent
- dependent relative with a relevant document to prove the relationship
For questions relating to your personal situation, please contact the Resolution Centre.
An application for settled/pre-settled status has to be made for every eligible child in a family. You should check if you need to apply on behalf of your children, even if you have been granted settled/pre-settled status yourself. It should be possible to make a late application, after the deadline of 30 June 2021, for a qualifying child. See Question 11 for further information on late applications.
The rights of children born to or adopted by a Swiss parent with settled/pre-settled status after 31 December 2020 are protected. However, an application for the appropriate status (as a joining family member) needs to be made on their behalf within three months of their birth or adoption (unless they qualify for British nationality from birth/adoption).
Indefinite Leave to Enter or Remain (ILR) status is, as a matter of principle, not affected by the UK leaving the EU, and ILR holders can continue to live in the UK without applying for settled status.
However, in practice it is advantageous for holders of an ILR status to apply for settled status, because it guarantees that your immigration status will be electronically registered with the Home Office while allowing you to spend up to four years in a row outside the UK without losing your settled status. The application for settled status is subject to verification of identity, a criminality check and confirmation of ongoing residence. It further provides you with secure, digital evidence of your immigration status (electronic visa / eVisa). The application to the scheme is free of charge.
In line with UK Home Office guidance, you can make a late application to the scheme if you have ‘reasonable grounds’ for missing the 30 June 2021 deadline. See Question 11 for further information on late applications.
Alternatively, you can apply to have your immigration status electronically registered by applying to create a UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) account (sometimes called a ‘No Time Limit’ application). This gives you access to an eVisa. As with your current ILR, it allows you to spend up to two years in a row outside the UK without losing your status, compared with four years if you have settled status. The application is free of charge.
If you have lived in the UK before 1989 and were automatically granted ILR, but you do not have a document confirming your ILR status, you can either make a late application for settled status or an application to the Windrush scheme to get digital proof of your ILR status (eVisa).
If you are planning to apply for a job, please note that new rules introduced after the UK’s departure from the EU require employers to carry out right-to-work checks on new employees. To pass such checks, ILR holders must have a valid eVisa.
Furthermore, following the introduction of the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for Swiss citizens, you are strongly advised to have your immigration status electronically registered in order to avoid potential difficulties at check-in and at the UK border. You can do so by obtaining an eVisa via one of the routes mentioned above.
If you do not hold settled status or another form of electronic immigration status, you must ensure that you have sufficient proof of your ILR status and that you carry original documents with you when entering the UK, such as an endorsement in an expired passport stating ‘indefinite leave to enter or remain’. From 1 October 2021, holders of an ILR status are no longer permitted to enter the UK with an ID card; a valid passport is mandatory.
ILR is a permanent residence status under the UK’s immigration rules, which remains valid following the UK’s departure from the EU. Settled status is, technically, a new form of ILR known as Indefinite Leave to Remain under the EU Settlement Scheme. Settled status allows Swiss nationals to spend up to four years in a row outside the UK without losing their settled status, compared with only two years for holders of ordinary ILR.
GOV.UK: Indefinite leave to remain in the UK: your rights and status
The application for settled/pre-settled status is an online application. Please note that if you already have pre-settled status and are applying to switch to settled status, you must a) make sure that you have already updated your identity document where relevant in your existing digital account and b) start a fresh application including all the steps described below, and not by signing in to your digital account. The application consists of three initial steps:
1. Identity Check: There are three ways to complete the Identity Check.
- Option 1: Use the ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ App on your phone and scan your passport with the App. To be able to do this, you need to have an Android smartphone which has NFC technology or an iPhone.
- Option 2: Choose the ‘online + by post’ method, which means you start your application online on the gov.uk website and at the end you will be asked to send in your passport or ID card to the Home Office. Please note that if you only have a Swiss ID card you have to use the ‘online + by post’ method.
- Option 3: Start your application by going to one of the local council scanning locations, where they will scan your passport and complete the Identity Check together with you.
- Start your application to the EU Settlement Scheme (settled and pre-settled status)
- Find locations offering ID document scanning
2. Residence Check: You can complete the Residence Check by using your National Insurance Number. The Home Office will then make an automated check with your tax and benefits records to help confirm your UK residence. If you do not have a National Insurance Number, or if you do not want to use yours, or you do not agree with the result that you receive from the automated check, you can prove your residence by submitting additional documents. The Home Office has published a list of documents accepted as evidence of UK residence. Please be aware that you do not need to provide evidence for your entire UK residence. You only need to show that you qualify for settled or pre-settled status.
EU Settlement Scheme: UK tax and benefits records automated check
3. Criminality Check: The Criminality Check is completed during the application to the EU Settlement Scheme.
Proof of ‘reasonable grounds’
In addition to the three steps above, you will be asked to provide evidence that you have ‘reasonable grounds’ for making a late application if you are an applicant for whom the application deadline was 30 June 2021. From August 2023, these grounds are checked first as part of the validity requirements of an application, and evidence explaining the grounds and covering the whole period since the deadline must be submitted. If they are considered to be insufficient, the application will be rejected as invalid (and will not proceed to the residence and criminality checking stages). Therefore, it is important that you carefully consider how to complete this section of the application – please consult the relevant link below. For further information about late applications, see Question 11.
The UK Home Office provides support over the phone or in person if you need help during the online application process (see Question 10).
No physical document evidencing your status will be issued. Instead, successful applicants will get proof of their status through an online account (eVisa).
If you encounter any problems during your application or if you have questions about the status of your application, you can contact the Resolution Centre.
There is also a service provided by the Home Office, called Assisted Digital Service, if you do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to complete the online application form.
It is possible to submit a late application for settled/pre-settled status after the deadline of 30 June 2021. However, in addition to the standard application (see Question 9) it is necessary to demonstrate that you have ‘reasonable grounds’ for failing to meet the deadline. The UK Home Office has published examples of scenarios where evidence of ‘reasonable grounds’ may be accepted. The scenarios are not exhaustive and each case is considered in light of its particular circumstances. Please consult the first two links below for further details. In general, the later the application is made, the harder it becomes to satisfy the requirements. From August 2023, these grounds are checked first as part of the validity requirements of an application and evidence explaining the grounds and covering the whole period since the deadline must be submitted. If they are considered to be insufficient, the application will be rejected as invalid (and will not proceed to the residence and criminality checking stages). Therefore, it is important that you carefully consider how to complete this section of the application – please consult the relevant links below.
Should a question arise about your immigration status pending receipt of your decision – for example from an employer, landlord, mortgage provider, university, NHS or benefits authority - you may refer to the confirmation that your application is being processed (‘Certificate of Application’) and to the fact that existing rights are safeguarded in these circumstances.
You will be issued only with a digital proof of your settled or pre-settled status (eVisa). No physical proof will be issued. The letter sent by the Home Office to successful applicants (by email), explaining how to access the digital status, does not count as proof in itself.
Once you have been granted settled or pre-settled status, it is advisable to print out the Home Office letter and keep it safe for future reference. When entering the UK you do not need a ‘share code’ to prove your rights to border staff, but you should get a share code in case you need to prove your immigration status to other people such as carrier (e.g. airline) staff. A share code is valid for 90 days. We also suggest that you keep a copy of the Home Office letter on your phone or carry a printout when travelling abroad, as a backup.
We recommend that you log in to your digital profile and familiarise yourself with it. It is important that you keep your digital status up to date (e.g. if you receive a new passport or a new identity card, or if you change your name, your nationality, your email address, your phone number or your UK address). You can add further valid travel documents as well, including passports of second and third countries. This will ensure that your digital residence status (eVisa) can be checked quickly and easily at the UK border and will help to avoid delays when entering the country. Please note that you can only access your account using the last travel document that you uploaded.
Update your EU Settlement Scheme details
People with pre-settled status will have their pre-settled status automatically extended by five years shortly before the end of the initial five-year grant, if they have not already obtained settled status. The process is automated and reflected in the person’s digital status. They are notified of the extension directly. This is to ensure that nobody loses their immigration status if they do not apply to switch from pre-settled to settled status. The Home Office is also automatically converting as many eligible pre-settled status holders as possible to settled status once they are eligible for it, without them needing to make an application. Automated checks of pre-settled status are carried out to establish their ongoing continuous residence in the UK.
However, it is highly recommended that holders of pre-settled status should actively apply to switch to settled status as soon as they have accumulated five years of continuous residence, since a grant of settled status is the easiest way to prove their permanent right to live and work in the UK. Automated Home Office processes may not be able to access all relevant data.
For pre-settled status holders converting to settled status, the continuous residences rules (explained in Question 3) were relaxed on 16 July 2025. When converting to settled status, the ‘continuous residence’ requirement can mean residence in the UK for at least 30 months in total in the most recent 60-month period (i.e. two and a half years in the preceding five years). This can be any 30 months in the 60-month period. Certain longer absences continue to be permitted, such as compulsory military service of any length.
You need to maintain your continuous residence if you want to qualify for settled status in the future. You lose your pre-settled status automatically if you spend more than five years in a row outside the UK. You will have lost your pre-settled status automatically if you spent more than two years in a row outside the UK by 21 May 2024, unless you acquired the right to live in the UK permanently. However, with the relaxation of the continuous residence rules on 16 July 2025, it may be possible for a previous refusal of settled status to be reconsidered.
Detailed information from the3million about pre-settled status extensions
From 1 July 2021 Swiss citizens in the UK with settled/pre-settled status can be asked for proof of their immigration status for a range of purposes. The UK government has published guidance on how to view and prove your digital status (eVisa), how to update it, and how to get help to access and share it if necessary.
By accessing your digital immigration status, you can generate a unique ‘share code’ to give to a potential employer who will carry out a Right to Work check, or to a new landlord when renting a property (Right to Rent check), or to a UK government agency or university. Each share code lasts for 90 days and is designed to pass on relevant information only; for example a new employer will receive information which relates to your right to work, but not to other rights. Please note that you can only access your digital status using the last travel document that you uploaded.
The guidance also contains information about checking your immigration status when crossing the UK border, and direct access to digital immigration status information for public authorities such as HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.
- Information on settled/pre-settled status
- Resolution Centre
- EU Settlement Scheme: UK tax and benefits records automated check
- EU Settlement Scheme: evidence of UK residence
- EU Settlement Scheme: Employer Toolkit
- EU Settlement Scheme: Community Groups Toolkit
- Information on the new Brexit rules for citizens and businesses
- List of government-funded organisations providing support
- List of charitable and other organisations providing support: the3million, ‘Settled’, Here for Good
- Information for ‘European Londoners’ (valid for everyone)
- IMA: Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements
- Unsuccessful applications, appeals and other challenges
- Refusal/rejection decisions, Administrative Reviews, appeals, applying again
Swiss citizens intending to live and/or work and/or study in the UK
There is currently no bilateral agreement between Switzerland and the UK that regulates migration and labour market access. On 21 December 2020 Switzerland and the UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), a non-legally binding instrument in which both countries reaffirm their commitment to explore ways to strengthen cooperation and to develop their bilateral relations in the field of labour migration, mobility and asylum.
From 1 January 2021, Swiss citizens who wish to take up employment or study in the UK must comply with the rules of the UK’s new immigration system and must be in possession of the relevant permission on arrival. According to this, economically active persons who intend to work in the UK will have to fulfil the requirements under the UK’s new Points-Based System (PBS) for which the UK government launched different routes on 1 December 2020.
There is currently no specific immigration route for au pairs or paid and unpaid internships for Swiss nationals.
- GOV.UK: New immigration system: what you need to know
- The UK’s points-based immigration system
- Check if you need a UK visa
- List of UK work visas
- Au pairs, business travellers, Erasmus students, internships (leaflet)
- Youth Mobility Scheme
- Get help from an immigration adviser
- Global Business Mobility Service Supplier visa for contracts in specified sectors
- Information from the Embassy of Switzerland in London for Swiss students