Irina's story
Application to the EU Settlement Scheme
The problem
Irina is Latvian and has been in the UK since 2014. She rang us for advice because she found herself in a bit of a pickle – she had gaps in her National Insurance record. She had been variously employed, self-employed and had a period when she was unemployed but supported by her partner. Irina also went back to Riga for 4 months in 2018 to support her mother who was recovering from an operation. Irina now wanted to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to stay in the UK, but she didn’t know how to provide sufficient proof that she had lived here for more than 5 years to qualify for settled status.
Our intervention
Our advisers explained to Irina that she needed to prove that she had lived in the UK for 5 years in a row and for 6 months out of every 12 months during those 5 years. We guided her through ways to show evidence about her time in the UK, for example through payslips, letters from her employer, council tax bills and utility bills.
