Question about EU Pre-settled status and year abroad

Hello, this is my first post on here, so I'm sorry if I'm posting this under the wrong forum board.

I'm an EU student on my 3d year at university and 3d year living in the UK, out of the 5 required to apply for settled status.
I've just received a very surprising offer to study my final 4th year abroad in a top university in the U.S., but I am very worried about the implications this will have on my pre-settled status.
I intend to seek a PhD in the U.K. or U.S. after my bachelor's, and while I will get to keep my pre-settled status for 2 years after my degree ends, I am worried I won't be able to apply for settled status, which means I may be unable to stay in the U.K. for a PhD with Home rates + funding.
What's worse, I am supposed to give a firm answer very soon (2-3 days) about whether I wish to take this amazing year abroad opportunity.

My questions are these:
a) Is there any chance my pre-settled status is not impacted by this absence as it is a part of my university course?
b) Alternatively, since according to the gov.uk website, a person with pre-settled status can stay outside the country for up to 12 months in exceptional circumstances, is there any way this year abroad could be considered an exceptional circumstance?

Thanks in advance!

Reply 1

lagrenouille

6

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on UK immigration law so take this with a grain of salt, but I am an EU national struggling with this system too at the moment so I have a basic understanding of the subject.

I think that spending a year abroad as part of a uni course would put your eligibility for settled status in serious jeopardy. The Home Office is a bureaucratic nightmare fuelled mostly by patriotism, and to grant you settled status they need proof that you're here to stay in their wonderful country. Packing your bags for a year because studying in the US seems fun is totally understandable but would not go down well for your EUSS application.

As for "exceptional circumstance" this is generally for matters of life or death, or serious disruption to the family unit - if a parent dies back home and you need to sort things out with family. I seriously doubt that study abroad counts as exceptional circumstance.

The key concept with the EUSS is 5 years of 'continuous residence', and what you're suggesting clearly goes against that.

Sorry to be a downer. Please get second opinions, preferably from an expert or someone in government.

Reply 2

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

I would speak to your international office or immigration team at your uni ASAP.

Reply 3

plasmidon

OP

2

Original post by lagrenouille

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on UK immigration law so take this with a grain of salt, but I am an EU national struggling with this system too at the moment so I have a basic understanding of the subject.

I think that spending a year abroad as part of a uni course would put your eligibility for settled status in serious jeopardy. The Home Office is a bureaucratic nightmare fuelled mostly by patriotism, and to grant you settled status they need proof that you're here to stay in their wonderful country. Packing your bags for a year because studying in the US seems fun is totally understandable but would not go down well for your EUSS application.

As for "exceptional circumstance" this is generally for matters of life or death, or serious disruption to the family unit - if a parent dies back home and you need to sort things out with family. I seriously doubt that study abroad counts as exceptional circumstance.

The key concept with the EUSS is 5 years of 'continuous residence', and what you're suggesting clearly goes against that.

Sorry to be a downer. Please get second opinions, preferably from an expert or someone in government.

Thank you for the informative reply! To give some context, by the time my EU Pre-settled status ends in the UK, I'll have stayed there for 6, not 5 years, since I've been in the country since before Brexit. Would a short visit to the U.K. during my year abroad to break up this 9-month period into two 4.5 month periods be helpful in this? I assume it could not be counted as a year of living in the U.K., but I'll still have 5 years total residence in the UK before my pre-settled status elapses.

I plan on asking the Year-Abroad coordinator at university about this later today.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 4

lagrenouille

6

Original post by plasmidon

Thank you for the informative reply! To give some context, by the time my EU Pre-settled status ends in the UK, I'll have stayed there for 6, not 5 years, since I've been in the country since before Brexit. Would a short visit to the U.K. during my year abroad to break up this 9-month period into two 4.5 month periods be helpful in this? I assume it could not be counted as a year of living in the U.K., but I'll still have 5 years total residence in the UK before my pre-settled status elapses.

I plan on asking the Year-Abroad coordinator at university about this later today.

I would be sceptical, but I really hope for your sake that it is allowed :frown:

. Your Year-Abroad coordinator or uni immigration team are way better authorities on this than me or anyone on this forum so see what they have to say. Good luck!

Reply 5

plasmidon

OP

2

Original post by lagrenouille

I would be sceptical, but I really hope for your sake that it is allowed :frown:

. Your Year-Abroad coordinator or uni immigration team are way better authorities on this than me or anyone on this forum so see what they have to say. Good luck!

A small update: I spoke to my Year-Abroad coordinator and he confirmed that this shouldn't actually be an issue at all, and that I should be able to keep my pre-settled status despite the year abroad. I expect to get a formal reply about this query from the International students team at university soon-ish, so I guess there's probably a happy ending here! Thanks a lot for the help anyway :smile: