Legal help and advice for your Dependent Child Visa
Requirements for a Child Visa (settlement)
The applicant (child) will be applying for indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the UK.
For the purposes of the immigration rules, ‘child’ means a person who is under 18 years old.
Children cannot normally come to settle in the UK unless both parents are settled here or have been given permission to settle here. The only exceptions to this are where:
- one parent is deceased and the other parent is settled or coming to settle in the UK; or
- the parent who is settled or coming to settle in the UK has had sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or
- one parent is settled or coming to settle in the UK and there are serious and compelling family or other reasons why the child must be allowed to come here.
The term 'parent' includes the stepfather or stepmother of a child whose father or mother is dead, both parents of an illegitimate child, and an adoptive parent in certain circumstances.
The child must show that they:
- are not leading an independent life;
- are not married or in a civil partnership;
- have not formed an independent family unit; and
- are aged under 18.
It is also necessary to demonstrate that the child:
- can be adequately accommodated by the parent, parents or relative the child was admitted to join, without claiming any (additional) public funds, in accommodation which the parent, parents or relative the child was admitted to join, own or occupy exclusively; and
- can be adequately supported by the parent, parents or relative the child was admitted to join, without claiming any (additional) public funds.
The above is only a summary of the essential requirements for a child settlement visa. For more detailed information please visit the UK Border Agency website, or contact us for your free visa assessment.