EU nationals may be disappointed to hear of the Court of Appeal's decision in Celik v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 921. The judgment confirmed that individuals who marry an EU national in the UK after 31 December 2020 will not be able to apply for leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme. The only exception is if they held or applied for an EEA Residence Card or Family Permit as the EU national's durable partner before the relevant date.
The court also confirmed that not being able to marry before the deadline because of COVID is not a sufficiently good excuse to qualify outside the rules. It was noted that applicants do not have a legal entitlement to a substantively fair outcome of their case, and there was no legal basis for a COVID exemption.
Those getting married to an EU national in the UK going forward will have to qualify under other UK visa categories in order to be able to remain in the UK.
Originally published 29 August 2023
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