Thousands of EU children in UK missing out on post-Brexit status
Thousands of EU children in the UK may be missing out on the protections granted by the EU-UK withdrawal agreement, an analysis by charity Settled has shown. The group warns that consequences may only become clear later in life, when young people will be asked to prove their immigration status.
The EU Settlement Scheme
In 2018, the British government set up the EU Settlement Scheme requiring EU citizens living in the UK before 31 December 2020 to apply to secure their legal status after Brexit.
Under the EU withdrawal agreement, applicants have been granted settled status, with the right to stay permanently and access social welfare as locals, after 5 years of continued residence. Those who did not meet that requirement have been granted pre-settled status and the possibility to complete the 5 year-period.
These protections extend to EU children – along with non-EU children who have an EU parent or who are dependent of an EU citizen – living in the UK before 31 December 2020. They also concern children who have arrived in the UK after that date as ‘joining family members’, and children born to EU citizens covered by the withdrawal agreement.
“A cause for concern”
Official figures show that the scheme has been taken up by millions of people. According to the Office for National Statistics, by 31 December 2025 the Home Office had concluded more than 5.7 million applications for people aged 18 to 64, of which 3.4 million with settled and 2.3 million with pre-settled status. It also processed more than 1.3 million applications for children under 18, with more than 800,000 young people granted settled status and almost 500,000 pre-settled status.
But an analysis by Settled, an organisation supporting EU nationals through the process, suggests that the number of young people with post-Brexit status is far lower than would be expected based on the average family composition recorded in official statistics.
“This confirms that there is cause to be concerned that there may be thousands of children in the UK who have missed out on securing their status under the EU Settlement Scheme,” the report says.
The issue has also been flagged by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA), the body overseeing the implementation of the Brexit deals. In a survey carried out in 2025, the IMA found that 38% of respondents had not applied for settled status for their children.
IMA chief executive Miranda Biddle told Europe Street that “there is a potential iceberg effect”. “Under 3,000 people responded to our survey and a third of them said that they haven’t applied for their children. If you extrapolate that across the 8 million settled status applications so far, what does that mean?”
British citizenship
The survey found that most people had not submitted a settled status application for their children because they believed their child was already a British citizen.
Andrew Jordan, immigration advice manager at Settled, said that this is sometimes mistaken. “Children are British if they are born in the UK and at least one of their parents is a British citizen or settled in the UK,” he said.
Children of parents who hold pre-settled status, he added, are “generally not entitled to British citizenship until their parents have been granted settled status.”
Children born in the UK who live in the country continuously for the first 10 years of their life can apply to be registered as ‘British citizens by entitlement’, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. However, he said the process typically costs £1,000.
Settled says that there is not enough data to estimate how many EU children are entitled to British citizenship. “We find that fewer children are actually in these circumstances. Many more children have parents who become settled in the UK subsequent to their birth and then need to be registered as British citizens,” Jordan added.
For this group, making an application to the EU Settlement Scheme will be crucial “to evidence their immigration status and protect their rights under the withdrawal agreement,” he continued.
Unaware parents
The enquiries received by Settled reveal that parents do not apply for settled status for their children also because they assume their status automatically covers the children.
“It only becomes clear to the parents that their children must have their own status when they approach a service provider who asks for proof of immigration status,” the report says. This could occur, for instance, when children access healthcare, apply for a national insurance number, seek education funding, or when they travel.
Problems may also arise when parents have not secured their own status or struggle with children’s applications because of language barriers. Settled also points to the risk of relying on rogue immigration advisers, which can lead to mistakes affecting both parents and children.
Although the deadline to apply for settled status was 30 June 2021, submissions can still be accepted if there are good reasons for the delay, Settled says.
Kate Smart, CEO of Settled, commented: “The EU Settlement Scheme affected millions of people and so we should not be surprised that some children slipped through the net. What’s important now is that all authorities be fully aware that this is the case, provide information and advice, and seek sympathetic solutions to every case.”
Last year the IMA launched the ‘Secure your child’s rights’ campaign to inform parents about what they need to do for their children.
The IMA also contacted local authorities across the UK and identified over a thousand children in their care who did not have settled status and for whom “an application has now been made,” Miranda Biddle said.
Claudia Delpero, Europe Street News © all rights reserved
Image by King’s Church International on Unsplash
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