Adult Dependent Children EU v new EU settlement scheme

[MomG12]

We are EU. We have been told that our adult non-EU dependent child, who entered the UK on an EEA family permit and obtained an EEA family member residence card was legally able to work in the UK, because the dependency had to have been in the country from which we moved. It was, and the adult child still lives with us.

We are now told in the EU Appendix of the new EU Settlement Scheme (in the UK) that a child who entered the UK after age 21 as a dependent must remain a dependent for the full five years of "pre-settlement".

The Settlement Scheme letter the child received says there are no requirements to ask the government for permission to work. We are also told that any EU rights will be honored until 2020. We have talked to several different legal sources now and gotten conflicting information as to what the child can do as far as working.

Anyone have a clue? (We don't. Other than what's below.)

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... ppendix-eu
"child
(a) the direct descendant under the age of 21 years of a relevant EEA citizen (or of a qualifying British citizen) or of their spouse or civil partner; or
(b)(i) the direct descendant aged 21 years or over of a relevant EEA citizen (or of a qualifying British citizen) or of their spouse or civil partner; and
(ii) dependent on the relevant EEA citizen (or on the qualifying British citizen) or on their spouse or civil partner, unless the applicant was previously granted limited leave to enter or remain under this Appendix as a child on the basis that sub-paragraph (a) above applied (or under its equivalent in the Islands on that basis)

‘dependent’ means here that:
(a) having regard to their financial and social conditions, or health, the applicant cannot, or (as the case may be) for the relevant period could not, meet their essential living needs (in whole or in part) without the financial or other material support of the relevant EEA citizen (or of the qualifying British citizen) or of their spouse or civil partner; and
(b) such support is, or (as the case may be) was, being provided to the applicant by the relevant EEA citizen (or by the qualifying British citizen) or by their spouse or civil partner; and
(c) there is no need to determine the reasons for that dependence or for the recourse to that support"

[MomG12]

Sorry, to be more precise, we were told:

Where a non-EEA child of an EEA citizen holds pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme it is important to determine whether the non-EEA child obtained their pre-settled status when they were under 21 years old or whether they obtained the grant of pre-settled status after they turn 21.

The Immigration Rules Appendix EU set out that if the child was granted pre-settled status before they were 21, then there is no need for them to be financially dependent on the EEA citizen sponsor parent for the 5 residency qualifying period before they can apply for settled status.

If the grant of pre-settled status was made after the non-EEA child turned 21, then they have to remain dependent on the EEA citizen sponsor parent for the remainder of the 5 years before they apply for settled status. In this case it appears that the child was granted pre-settled status after they turn 21 in which case, they will need to remain financially dependent on the EEA citizen sponsor parent until they are able to apply for settled status (this will be 5 years from the date that the family permit was issued and they took up residence in the UK in 2017). This would mean that the non-EEA child should not take up employment until they are able to attain settled status as it would likely have the consequence of invalidating their financial dependency on the EEA citizen sponsor parent.