EU Settlement Scheme – Domestic Abuse

The Home Office latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules sets out welcome changes to the EU Settlement Scheme to extend protection to all family members who have been the victims of domestic abuse.

Previously Appendix EU of the Immigration Rules offered protection to those who were married or in a civil partnership with an EEA national and whose marriage had broken down because of domestic abuse. So, for example, the spouse of an EEA national could retain a right of residence where their marriage to the EEA national had terminated and that person could demonstrate that this was due to domestic violence.

Annex 1 of Appendix EU has now been amended to cover all family members of the relevant EEA national. This offers important protection to individuals previously not covered by Appendix EU. It now includes applicants who are the durable partners of an EEA national and whose relationship has broken down because of domestic violence. However, durable partners still find themselves in a more precarious situation than spouses/ civil partners because to make an application under the EU settlement scheme, durable partners must have had that status recognized by the Home Office.

Indeed the protection offered to victim of domestic violence across the Immigration Rules is not consistent. An applicant under the EU Settlement Scheme who is refused an leave to remain on the basis of retained rights based on domestic abuse, would get a right of appeal to the First Tier Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. However, another category of applicants under the Immigration Rules who make their applications under the Domestic Violence Rules under Appendix FM would not. It is a complicated area of law and the Immigration Team at Drummond Miller have in depth experience in this field.