Surinder Singh and the EU Settlement Scheme

What Was the Surinder Singh Route

Named after a 1992 European Court of Justice case, the Surinder Singh route worked as follows:

• A British citizen moved to another EEA country (for example, Ireland, France, or Spain)
• They exercised their EU treaty rights there by working or being self-employed
• While in that country, they were joined by their non-EEA family member (spouse, partner, or child) who obtained an EU residence card
• The British citizen and family member then returned to the UK together
• Under EU law, the non-EEA family member had the right to enter and reside in the UK on the same basis as the family member of an EEA national

The route mattered because it did not carry the UK's minimum income requirement — £18,600 at the time, and £29,000 for applications made on or after 11 April 2024 — or the other Appendix FM conditions. Families who could not meet the financial requirement for a standard spouse visa often used this route instead.

What Happened After Brexit

The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, with a transition period that ended on 31 December 2020. The route did not shut on that date. It wound down against three separate published deadlines:

• 31 December 2020. The applicant had to have been living with the British citizen in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein by this date, in what was their main residence.
• 29 March 2022. The deadline for returning to the UK with the British citizen. The Home Office caseworker guidance allows reasonable grounds for missing it — including where a valid family permit application was made by 11pm on that date but the family could not reasonably arrange to travel in time.
• 9 August 2023. Applications for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit on this basis closed. GOV.UK states that applications made before that date will still be decided.

The separate deadline for most people to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme itself was 30 June 2021, and it does not apply to someone who already holds pre-settled status and is applying for settled status. The published requirements are on the GOV.UK EU Settlement Scheme page.

EU Settlement Scheme Family Permits Today

The family permit still exists — just not on the Surinder Singh basis. GOV.UK describes it as free, and as letting the holder come to the UK for up to 6 months, work and study, and travel in and out as often as they like before it expires. Without one, GOV.UK warns, a person may not get a boarding pass or may be refused entry. The applicant must be outside the UK to apply.

The two published grounds for a family permit now are:

• Being the family member of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020
• Being the family member of an eligible person of Northern Ireland

The first also covers two case types that turn on how a family member acquired British citizenship: a "Lounes" case, where they held citizenship of one of those countries and lived in the UK using free movement rights before becoming British; and a "McCarthy" case, where they hold dual nationality with one of those countries and settled in the UK before 16 July 2012 without using free movement rights.

On timing, GOV.UK states that where a person is joining a family member, their deadline depends on when they first arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020, provided the family member was living in the UK by 31 December 2020, the applicant was their family member by that date — which does not apply to children born or adopted afterwards — and the relationship still exists at the time of the application. See our guide on EU Settlement Scheme late applications.

Who Can Still Apply On This Basis

GOV.UK sets out two narrow situations. In both, something has to be in hand already — neither is open to someone starting from nothing.

• Already holding, or having held, pre-settled status as the family member of a qualifying British citizen. Someone in this position can apply to switch to settled status.
• Having entered the UK on an EU Settlement Scheme family permit issued as the family member of a qualifying British citizen.

Where the family permit has expired, GOV.UK states that reasonable grounds for the delay in applying must be shown. The relationships covered are spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner; child, grandchild or great-grandchild under 21; dependent child, grandchild or great-grandchild over 21; and dependent parent, grandparent or great-grandparent.

The evidence needed is proof of identity, of continuous residence, of the relationship, and of the family member's identity and continuous residence. GOV.UK notes that the same evidence used for the family permit application can be used again.

The parallel "Zambrano" route, for the primary carer of a British citizen, closed on the same date and works the same way: it remains open only to someone who already holds pre-settled status on that basis, or who entered on a family permit issued as a "specified EEA family permit case".

Current Alternatives

GOV.UK directs people who cannot apply for pre-settled or settled status to the family visa. The published routes are:

• Spouse visa (Appendix FM) — the standard route for partners of British citizens and settled persons
• Fiancé visa — for coming to the UK to marry or form a civil partnership here. GOV.UK notes that a holder cannot work or study, and must apply to extend after the marriage
• Unmarried partner visa — paragraph GEN.1.2 of Appendix FM requires a relationship similar to marriage or civil partnership lasting at least 2 years before the date of application
• Adult dependent relative route — for elderly or incapacitated family members (very strict criteria)

Each carries its own requirements. For a partner these are the £29,000 income requirement, the English language requirement — A1 at the first application, A2 at the extension after 2 years 6 months, B1 at settlement — and a fee of £2,064 from outside the UK or £1,407 from inside, per person, plus the immigration health surcharge.

The Income Requirement That Replaced It

The published threshold is £29,000 for applications made on or after 11 April 2024. A person whose first application was made before that date is assessed at extension against the earlier figures: £18,600, plus £3,800 for a first child and £2,400 for each further child, capped at £29,000.

Further staged rises, to £34,500 and then £38,700, were announced in April 2024 and referred to the Migration Advisory Committee, which reported on 10 June 2025. No government response has been published and neither figure has been written into the Immigration Rules. Anything describing £38,700 as the current threshold, or as arriving on a particular date, is wrong: it is a proposal. Our guide to the immigration white paper covers what was proposed and what has actually changed.

Two published alternatives to meeting the threshold from income alone are combining income and cash savings — the rule is £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall, held for the 6 months before the application, so £88,500 covers the whole requirement with no qualifying income — and the exceptional circumstances provisions in Appendix FM. A sponsor receiving certain disability or carer benefits is exempt from the income requirement and is assessed on adequate maintenance instead.

Next Steps

The route is closed. What remains are the two situations above — already holding pre-settled status on this basis, or having entered on a family permit issued on it — where a late application has to be supported by reasonable grounds for the delay. For everyone else the published route is the family visa. Check the GOV.UK family visa page for current requirements.

Related guides:

• EUSS Settled Status to Citizenship
• Spouse Visa UK: Complete Guide
• EUSS Late Applications
• EU Nationals in the UK After Brexit

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