TY - JOUR N2 - In early 2021, over 5 million European Union (EU) citizens had applied for settled status to secure their right to continue to live, work and study in the United Kingdom (UK) after the country’s withdrawal from the EU (Brexit). In 2018, the Home Office launched a Statement of Intent to implement an application process for EU citizens through its EU Settlement Scheme. In the period leading up to Brexit, the UK gov-ernment assured EU migrants that their existing rights under EU law would remain essentially un-changed and that applying for settled status would be smooth, transparent and simple. However, the application process has resulted in some long-term residents failing to obtain settled status, despite providing the required information. Based on qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 EU migrants living in two major metropolitan areas in Northern England, this article discusses the significant barriers which EU citizens face in the application process. This situation particularly affects the most vulnerable EU mi-grants with limited English-language skills and/or low literacy levels as well as those who are digitally excluded. The study contributes to the growing body of research on the consequences of Brexit for vulner-able EU migrants in the UK, focusing specifically on Central and Eastern European migrants. L1 - http://journals.pan.pl/Content/120322/PDF/Elfving_Marcinkowska.pdf L2 - http://journals.pan.pl/Content/120322 PY - 2021 IS - No 1 : Unwanted Citizens of EU Member States and Their Forced Returns within the European Union EP - 73 KW - EU Settlement Scheme KW - settled status KW - deservingness KW - EU migrants KW - homelessness A1 - Elfving, Sanna A1 - Marcinkowska, Aleksandra PB - Polska Akademia Nauk, Ośrodek Badań nad Migracjami UW VL - vol. 10 DA - 2021.07.16 T1 - Imagining the Impossible? Fears of Deportation and the Barriers to Obtaining EU Settled Status in the UK SP - 55 UR - http://journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/120322 T2 - Central and Eastern European Migration Review ER -