CHARITIES have warned that thousands of EU children risk becoming undocumented this week after ministers rejected last-ditch calls to extend the settled-status deadline. 

The deadline for EU citizens to apply for the scheme, which allows them to continue living, working and accessing benefits in Britain after Brexit, passed today. 

But the Children’s Society has warned that there are still thousands of youngsters who have not had an application filed on their behalf, putting them at risk of becoming undocumented. 

Ministers refused calls to extend the deadline despite a last-minute surge in applications, thought to be between 10,000 to 12,000 a day with new applicants stuck in a backlog of 400,000. 

A Home Office survey found that, as of April 23, almost a third (1,155) of the 3,660 looked-after EU children and care leavers had not yet applied.

The charity stressed that this number is likely to be far higher. Children’s Society policy adviser Marieke Widmann said there needs to be an “ongoing process” to continue to identify young people eligible for the scheme. 

The charity said it has been inundated with pleas for help in recent weeks, and has told the government it will not be able to help all those who have approached it.

The Home Office has said that late applications can still be accepted under “reasonable grounds”  — but concerns have been raised about unclear guidance and what evidence will be needed to prove this. 

Progressive think tank IPPR has warned that tens of thousands of people still waiting for decisions on their EU settlement applications could be subjected to “hostile environment” measures while they wait. 

More than 100,000 people have had to wait over three months for a decision, with 8,000 applications outstanding for at least a year, the IPPR report found. 

About five million applicants have been granted status under the scheme, but estimates suggest that 150,000 have still not applied. 

MPs made last-ditch calls on Tuesday for ministers to extend the deadline by three months, raising concerns that tens of thousands of EU nationals on benefits have yet to apply. 
 
Immigration Minister Kevin Foster said that anyone who applied by June 30 will have their rights protected until a decision on their application is made.