The3million says it filed a High Court challenge on Nov. 6 over how the Home Office handles EU Settlement Scheme grants later deemed erroneous, leaving pre-settled status unextended at expiry and restricting family sponsorship.
In a written answer to Parliament, the government said 1,473 people had been notified between the scheme’s launch in 2018 and June 30, 2026, that their pre-settled status was granted in error. The Home Office said the number came from manual records and could change. It has no reportable figures for how many of those people’s status has expired or may expire, so the total does not show how many have lost the right to remain.
The Home Office says people can submit more evidence and keep their current status while their case is reviewed. It will not extend that status beyond its existing expiry date, and people notified are told they cannot sponsor relatives’ applications under the scheme.
The government says affected people can submit a new application and appeal a refusal to the First-tier Tribunal. It says people who apply while their current status is still valid remain covered while the new application and any appeal are considered. Lord Hanson of Flint said the Home Office considers its arrangements consistent with the UK’s obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement.
The Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA), the UK’s citizens’ rights watchdog, says there is no direct appeal against a decision to let pre-settled status expire and has warned that the policy may conflict with the Withdrawal Agreement. The3million says sponsors cannot directly appeal a finding that they are ineligible to sponsor, although family members can appeal refusals of their own applications. The IMA says status reviews may take place when someone applies for settled status or when a relative seeks to join them in the UK.
The IMA says the policy has been in place since 2023 and appeared in published caseworker guidance on Nov. 11, 2025. The3million says some cases concern people who documented Italian citizenship by descent after the Brexit transition deadline. The group says the Home Office accepted in October 2026 that evidence of Italian citizenship can establish citizenship from birth and is reviewing related decisions.
The court must next decide whether the claim can proceed to a full hearing, according to the3million’s case update. The group has not given a date for that decision.
