Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the fee for EU citizens applying for post-Brexit settled status in the UK will be removed. Having listened to concerns of Members of Parliament and organisations like the “The 3 Million” group, when the scheme is implemented in full on March 30, 2019, the government will waive the application fee so that there is no financial barrier for any EU nationals who wish to stay in the UK. Persons who have already applied or will apply during the pilot phase will have their fee reimbursed.
The decision to charge the fee was announced in June 2018. More than 30,000 applications have already been processed during the beta testing phases and the applicants, along with anyone who applies between now and 30 March, will have to be refunded. The Home Office has estimated that each settled status application will cost £103 to process. The total administrative cost of the scheme between 2018/19 and 2021/22 is estimated at between £410 and £460 million. Fees were expected to offset some of these costs, but this expense will now be borne solely by the Home Office.
