New to the UK > How to apply for pre-settled status

How to apply for pre-settled status

Wollit Team2 minute read · Updated 14th September 2024

Pre-settled status is an important part of the EU Settlement Scheme. It allows EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens, along with their family members, to live and work in the UK after Brexit. If you’re in this situation, let’s have a look at what this means for you and how it relates to your credit score and financial options in the UK.

What is pre-settled status?

Pre-settled status allows you to stay in the UK for up to five years if you haven’t lived here continuously for five years yet.

After five years, you can apply for settled status, which gives you the right to live in the UK permanently. Think of settled status as “British PR”, basically.

Who can apply for pre-settled status?

You were able to apply for pre-settled status if:

You are a citizen of the EU, EEA, or Switzerland, or a family member of one.
You started living in the UK by December 31, 2020.
You have lived in the UK for at least one day before December 31, 2020.
You have not been away from the UK for more than six months since that date.

If you met these conditions on 31 December 2020, you had the chance to apply for pre-settled status, even if you haven’t lived in the UK for five years yet. All you had to do was to apply online on the GOV UK website.

What if I missed the application deadline?

The main deadline was June 30, 2021. However, according to the UK Government guidelines, you can still apply if you have a serious reason for being late, like being sick or having other important issues.

Also, very importantly – you still have time to apply if you’re a family member of someone who has pre-settled or settled status and wants to join them in the UK.

In these cases, you will need to show proof of your reasons for applying late.

What does having pre-settled status mean?

With pre-settled status, you can:

Live and work in the UK.
Use the National Health Service (NHS) for free.
Go to school or training.
Get benefits if you qualify.

Also, one of the most important advantages is that you can apply for any financial product, like a credit card, loan, or mortgage. Having pre-settled status shows lenders that you essentially are on the path to become a permanent British resident or even citizen. This gives them the confidence to process your application.

However, your immigration status is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to applying for a loan. Lenders will also look at things like your income, your existing debt, and especially your credit history.

Being new to the UK can mean having little to no credit history. In a situation like this, lenders often have no solution but to deny your application – regardless of your pre-settled status.

This is why it’s so important to build your credit history if you’re still new to the UK. One of the ways to do this is through a credit-building subscription like Wollit.

Wollit works by reporting a fixed fee monthly subscription as a loan repayment to the credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). This helps you build or rebuild your credit history by showing that you can pay debt on time.

It can even report your monthly rent payment to Experian, adding another line in your credit report that shows lenders you're responsible and pay your bills when they’re due. In time, this will help you improve your credit score so you won’t need to be worried about any credit check ever again.