UK resets the EU Settlement Scheme clock for joining family from 8 October

A statement of changes laid on 3 September 2026 gives first-time joining family members three months from their latest legal entry, opens routes for Erasmus+ and raises student maintenance from 30 November, the Home Office says.

The Home Office laid a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules, HC 584, on 3 September 2026, and most of it takes effect on 8 October 2026. According to the explanatory memorandum, first-time applications to the EU Settlement Scheme by joining family members must from that date be made within three months of their latest legal entry to the UK. Until now the deadline has been 90 days from the person's first arrival after 31 December 2020.

Two tidy-ups follow. The Settlement Scheme travel permit route is deleted and replaced by a procedure for updating details from abroad, and from 9 December 2026 an expired biometric residence permit can no longer be used as identity evidence in a Settlement Scheme application. That fits a wider shift: all biometric residence permits have expired and been replaced by eVisas, and an expired card can only be used to reach your account until 31 December 2026 at the latest.

The same statement of changes prepares the ground for the UK's return to Erasmus+ in 2027, announced jointly with the European Commission on 17 December 2025 and signed as a legal text on 15 April 2026. From 8 October 2026 Erasmus+ participants may study, train, job-shadow and undertake traineeships of up to 30 days as visitors, and can be sponsored on the Student route even if the course does not lead to an approved qualification, including at state-funded schools with a sponsor licence.

Students planning to apply later in the year should note a separate date. From 30 November 2026 the monthly maintenance requirement for a Student visa rises to £1,570 in London and £1,203 elsewhere for applications made on or after that date, in line with the 2026/27 maintenance loans for home students. Until then the figures are £1,529 and £1,171 a month, for up to 9 months, and the money must be held for 28 consecutive days.

Fees are not moving this time. The fee table effective 8 October 2026 shows no change to the amounts set on 8 April 2026: a standard visit visa £135, a Skilled Worker visa of up to three years £819, indefinite leave to remain £3,226 and naturalisation £1,709 plus a £130 ceremony fee. The electronic travel authorisation stays at £20.

If you are the non-EU spouse or child of someone with settled or pre-settled status and you arrive after 8 October 2026, count three months from the day you last entered legally, not from your first trip.

Sources: Home Office, explanatory memorandum to the statement of changes to the Immigration Rules HC 584, 3 September 2026; Home Office, statement of changes to the Immigration Rules HC 584; Home Office, immigration and nationality fees, 8 April 2026 and 8 October 2026; UK Government guidance on eVisas and biometric residence permits; Department for Education and Cabinet Office, press release of 15 April 2026 on Erasmus+, read 24 September 2026.

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