On 19 October 2026 the Home Office amended postal application guidance for the EU Settlement Scheme, allowing certain children and their primary carers to retain pre-settled status so they may finish schooling in the UK even if the family moves abroad temporarily. Previously, extended absences risked breaking the five-year continuous-residence clock, jeopardising eventual settled status. The new rule pauses residence-counting for pupils enrolled in a UK educational institution and for one primary carer, provided annual absences do not exceed six months. Education-linked concessions echo EU Free Movement principles and respond to cases where international assignments force families to split residences. Larger multinationals had lobbied for clarity after several employees’ children faced loss of pre-settled status during U.S. secondments. HR teams should inventory EU national assignees with school-age dependants and advise on the documentary proof—such as attendance certificates and tenancy agreements—now required at renewal.
Source: ILPA
