EUSS Family Permit visa is for applicants applying from outside the UK who want to get an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit to come to the UK, where the applicant is the family member of someone from the EU.

Contact SmartMove Immigration for more information on this visa. As a UK immigration office, we provide accurate advice on a variety of visas tailored to the client’s situation and assist in the application process.

• An applicant can get an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit visa to come to the UK if the applicant is a family member of someone from the EU (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein).
• The applicant can also apply for this visa if they are a family member of an eligible person from Northern Ireland.
• The family members of some British citizens can also get this permit.
• The applicant has to note this – an application for an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit visa must be done from outside the UK.

• A family permit makes it easier to travel with a family member to the UK or to join them there.
• It allows the applicant to come to the UK for up to 6 months.
• The applicant can work and study, and come and go as many times as they wish before the permit expires.
• Without this visa, the applicant might not get a boarding pass or maybe get refused at the airport to enter the UK.
• The applicant can apply to stay longer in the UK if they are still eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme.

The applicant can either:

• Apply for a family permit before they come to the UK, or then apply to the EU Settlement Scheme once they are here.
• Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme from outside the UK, if they are eligible.

The applicant can only apply to the EU Settlement Scheme from outside the UK if they are eligible and either:

• From the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein and have a valid passport or national identity card with a biometric chip.
• From somewhere else and the applicant has a UK-issued biometric residence card (if it has not expired).
• Or else, the applicant will need to apply for a family permit to come to the UK.

There are different ways one can be eligible for a family permit.

• The applicant can apply if they are a family member of someone who started living in the UK by 31st December 2020. This includes family members who have British citizenship if they also have:
• Citizenship from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein.
• Lived in the UK using their free movement rights before becoming a British citizen (also known as a ‘Lounes’ case).
• Dual nationality with an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein, and they settled in the UK before 16th July 2012 without using their free movement rights (also known as a ‘McCarthy’ case).
• The applicant can apply if their family member lives outside the UK but regularly works in the UK (also known as a ‘frontier worker’).

• The applicant can apply if they used to have a family member from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein living in the UK but they’ve died, left the UK or the family relationship has broken down.
• This is also known as having ‘retained the right of residence’.
• The family member must have lived in the UK by 31st December 2020.
• If they moved to the UK later, you’ll usually need a visa to come to the UK.

• The applicant can apply if they have a family member who is an eligible person of Northern Ireland.
• To be eligible, the applicant’s family member must be an Irish, British, or dual British and Irish citizen who was born in Northern Ireland.
• When they were born, they must also have had a parent who held British, Irish, or dual citizenship (or had no restriction on how long they could stay in Northern Ireland).

• Their spouse, civil partner, or unmarried partner.
• Their child or grandchild under 21.
• Their dependent child or grandchild over 21.
• Their dependent parent or grandparent.
• Another type of dependent relative.
• This includes family members who were adopted under an adoption order that’s recognised in UK law.

• Their child or grandchild aged under 21.
• Their dependent child or grandchild over 21.
• Their dependent parent or grandparent.

• The applicant can apply as the family member of a British citizen if they are currently living with them in an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein.
• The applicant must have been living in one of these places with a family member by 31st December 2020 to apply.
• The applicant must apply for a family permit before they can return to the UK.
• This is also known as a ‘Surinder Singh’ application.

It is free to apply for a EUSS Family Permit visa.

List of documents for a EUSS Family Permit visa

The applicant must provide proof of identity, which can be either:

• A valid passport.
• A valid national identity card, if you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein.
• The applicant may be able to use other proof of your identity and nationality if they cannot provide either of these because of ‘compelling practical or compassionate’ grounds. For example, the applicant could not travel to get these documents because of an illness or COVID-19 restrictions.
• The applicant also needs to provide evidence to prove the relationship, if they are applying:
• As a spouse or civil partner.
• As an unmarried partner.
• As a dependent child, grandchild, parent, or grandparent.
• To join a person who is exempt from immigration control.
• To join a frontier worker.
• To join a person with dual citizenship.

EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit visa will be valid for either 4 or 6 months.

The applicant can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to stay in the UK after the family permit expires. The applicant usually needs to apply within 3 months of arriving in the UK.