Three Rivers helps EU settlement scheme reach one million milestone

One million EU citizens and their families from across the UK have now been granted settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

For the past five months, Three Rivers has been providing information to its EU citizens on how to get granted status.

The  EU Settlement Scheme  is designed to make it straightforward for EU citizens and their family members to guarantee their rights after the UK leaves the EU. To apply they need to complete three key steps – prove their identity, show that they live in the UK, and declare any criminal convictions.

Sara Bedford, Leader of the Council, said: “We have almost 3,000 EU nationals registered on the current Electoral Register. Three Rivers has a history of welcoming people from all over the world to live or work in the district. We value all our residents equally and wish to support those who have come to live here from the EU to stay here if Brexit goes ahead.”

Three Rivers is part of a network of local authorities, charities and employers across the UK working to help EU citizens apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Home Office figures show that so far the highest number of applications have come from Polish, Romanian and Italian citizens.

The Home Office has 1500 staff working on the Scheme, including a team of people running a dedicated, seven-days a week phone service –  The EU Settlement Resolution Centre .

Across the UK, there are also 300 assisted digital locations offering support to those who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to complete the online form. There are also translated materials in 26 languages available.