EU Settlement Scheme

In case this may be of any use to anyone here -   Both of us applied for and were granted pre-settlement status just as quickly as we could when that option was available. (Dual US/Irish citizen with a US dependent). We would have had five years in the UK on May 1, 2022, but I believe the clock did not start immediately when we arrived - no longer remember, sorry!  We left the UK in the fall of 2020, and did notify HMRC and the Home Office that we were leaving permanently.  I received a request from the HMRC one year since that time that I do a self-assessment, which I did not do although I did write a letter to them reminding them that we'd gone. They then sent a notice saying they agreed that there was no need for me to file a self-assessment and they were confirming that we were no longer there.  I heard nothing from the Home Office, aside from an occasional news email over the last few years.

Last week we both received emails from the Home Office saying we should be eligible for full EU Settled status now, and that they were extending our status for another two years (pre-settled):

I am writing to you to inform you that your EU Settlement Scheme Limited Leave in the United Kingdom under paragraph EU3 of Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules has been extended by two years. This is also referred to as your pre-settled status.   This means that you continue to have an immigration status under UK law. However, it is important that you continue to meet the EU Settlement Scheme eligibility conditions in order to maintain your status.  This is not a new grant of status; the extension has been applied to your original status.  

I'm not quite sure what's up with that, and am assuming it's a blanket email. I will notify them one last time that I don't live there and am not applying for Settled status via this route, just in case the Royal Mail lost the letter I'd sent to them before we moved back to the USA. After that point, the emails will be shunted to the spam folder.

However, if you are going the EU pre-settled/settled status and such an extension might be of use to you, it's something to check up on.

Last week we both received emails from the Home Office saying we should be eligible for full EU Settled status now, and that they were extending our status for another two years (pre-settled):

I am writing to you to inform you that your EU Settlement Scheme Limited Leave in the United Kingdom under paragraph EU3 of Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules has been extended by two years. This is also referred to as your pre-settled status.   This means that you continue to have an immigration status under UK law. However, it is important that you continue to meet the EU Settlement Scheme eligibility conditions in order to maintain your status.  This is not a new grant of status; the extension has been applied to your original status.  

I'm not quite sure what's up with that, and am assuming it's a blanket email.

It is. The EU said that as those using the EU free movement were low skilled, they might not remember to apply for Settled Status and could become illegal in the UK when their Pre-Settled Status expired/they don't want these who forget to move to an EU country. The UK agreed to extend another 2 years for those (some?) on the UK EUPre-SettledStatus. Because of the millions of EEA and non-EEA citizens who used EU rules to move to the UK, it's just a default letter sent out.

Although the UK agreed to another automatic 2 years, that is a red herring for many if they want the UK's Brexit  EUSettledStatus and they have spent more than 6 months outside the UK in any 12 months. As you will know, 5 continuous years in the UK is needed for EUSettledStatus.

Also seeing non-EU citizens who used free movement to come to the UK as a partner or an EEA citizen, cannot have Settled Status when the relationship is over, just as they would have to leave that EEA country under free movement. The EU's "retained rights" rule; to stay in that EEA country; only applies if they were married.