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I thought it’s time to ask by now, just out of curiosity: If an EU citizen lived in the UK, met all the conditions for settled status, had a job, and a house, and for whatever stupid reason did not apply for settled status by June 2021, without any valid excuse, what would happen or would have happened to them in practice?

Would anyone check and ask them to leave, or would they be in trouble returning from a holiday abroad, or would this go undetected (for a person who needed to do nothing but fill out some form)? I suppose getting a new job would be difficult because they wouldn’t have proof of the right to work in the UK, but an existing employer wouldn’t have to check again?

PS phoog's link seems to suggest that if the government found out today (14 months past the deadline) that you didn't apply for settled status with no good reason whatsoever, you might be in trouble. Or not. You would be asked to apply ASAP and give a good reason why you didn't apply earlier, which you couldn't.

There are certain rights that are "guaranteed" with settled status, for example benefits, but I don't know what happens if a right is "not guaranteed". And it seems nobody is looking for you.

There is also the strange fact that the government refuses to give you anything saying that you have settled status in writing. That means on the other hand they can't complain if you have no evidence in writing. The best that you can do is go to the website that is about "permission to work in the UK" once a year, and take a screen shot. So if they "lost" your settled status like in the Windrush scandal, you could prove that say 7 months earlier, and 1 year 7 months earlier, and 2 years 7 months earlier, you were told you had the right to work in the UK because of settled status.

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Would anyone check and ask them to leave, or would they be in trouble returning from a holiday abroad, or would this go undetected (for a person who needed to do nothing but fill out some form)?

Not sure about that. My guess would be that nothing much would happen as long as you stay in the country. Even returning from holiday might somehow be possible but only once because you would have to present yourself as a regular visitor. After that, the length of your visit would trip you up. I assume even automated passport gates have some checks against visits that last too long but I don't know that for a fact or any of the details on how that might be handled.

I suppose getting a new job would be difficult because they wouldn’t have proof of the right to work in the UK, but an existing employer wouldn’t have to check again?

The government is explicit about the last part: “As an employer you are not responsible for making sure your employees have applied to the scheme and you do not need to undertake retrospective right to work checks“. The same page also promised “We will publish updated detailed guidance for employers in due course.“ but I don't know what happened to that.

However, just as you surmised, switching jobs (and many other formalities) would become difficult or impossible.

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    Larger employers might have a HR process for picking this up, including random checks by internal audit. It would be impossible to move jobs without flagging it up too; moving house might be a problem in the future if mortgage lenders / landlords ask about immigration status.
    – Traveller
    Aug 31, 2022 at 16:49
  • @Traveller Yes, obviously, and the question already acknowledged this but the current employer wouldn't have to check.
    – Relaxed
    Aug 31, 2022 at 17:57
  • Should have been obvious to me that as an EU citizen you can enter the UK legally for three months - but it might be noticed if you stay too long. And they might notice that my passport has a UK address.
    – gnasher729
    Sep 5, 2022 at 14:32
  • @gnasher729 Do passports have the holder’s address?
    – Traveller
    Sep 14, 2022 at 16:18
  • @Traveller Some do (e.g. the French passport). AFAIK, it's purely declarative, not guaranteed to be up to date and not part of international norms so you cannot rely on it but the information can be there.
    – Relaxed
    Sep 14, 2022 at 17:14

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