Making an application to the EU Settlement Scheme normally requires the applicant to use a valid and in-date identity document. An identity document can be a passport, national identity card or biometric residence card.
As a result of covid-19, people are finding it hard to renew their expired passports due to embassy closures and reduced appointment availability. Therefore, some countries have extended the validity period of identity documents.
The table below outlines which countries have made changes for the relevant documents and the impact on the expiry date. This table can also be found on the gov.uk website under the EUSS caseworker guidance.
| Country | Document | Changes to expiry date |
| Bulgaria | Passport and national identity card | Any document which has expired since 13 March 2020 is to be accepted as valid until 31 January 2021 |
| Croatia | Passport and national identity card | Any document expiring on or after 13 March 2020 is to be treated as having no expiry date |
| Hungary | Passport and national identity card | Any document expiring between 11 March 2020 – 3 July 2020 is to be treated as valid until 8 February 2021 + 60 days
Any document expiring on or after 4 November 2020 is to be treated as valid until 8 February 2021 + 60 days |
| Italy | Passport and national identity card | The expiry date has been newly extended by law until 30 April 2021. This makes the document still valid for proving the holder’s identity. However, it cannot be used as a travel document |
| Portugal | Passport and national identity card | Any document expiring after 26 February 2020 is to be accepted as valid until 31 March 2021 |
| Romania | Passport and national identity card | Any document expiring on or after 1 March 2020 is to be accepted as valid until 90 days following the end of the state of alert in Romania |
| Slovakia | National identity card | Any identity card expiring between 9 April 2020 – 30 April 2020 is to be accepted as valid until one month following the official termination of the state of crisis situation by the Government of the Slovak Republic
Any identity card expiring between 1 May 2020 – 31 May 2020 is to be accepted as valid until 2 months following the official termination of the state of crisis situation by the Government of the Slovak Republic Any identity card expiring between 1 June 2020 – 30 June 2020 is to be accepted as valid until 3 months following the official termination of the state of crisis situation by the Government of the Slovak Republic Any card expiring on or after 1 July 2020 until the official termination of the state of crisis situation by the Government of the Slovak Republic is to be accepted as valid until 4 months following the official termination of the state of crisis situation by the Government of the Slovak Republic |
| Spain | National identity card | Any card expiring between 14 March 2020 and 13 March 2021 is to be accepted as valid until 13 March 2021 |
Please get into contact with us if you have any further questions regarding the above update or if you are needing assistance in applying to the EU Settlement Scheme. Our contact details are info@newfieldslaw.com – 02921 690 049.
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