If you’re a parent who has a child living in the UK and wishes to travel to the UK to care for them, you may be eligible for a Parent visa.
For more information about the Parent visa, including more details about the eligibility criteria, how to apply, and to receive bespoke advice for your immigration situation, reach out to one of our legal advisers today.
The Parent visa is one of the UK’s Family visas, which allow overseas nationals to come and live in the UK long-term with an eligible family member.
In this case, parents of children living in the UK can come and settle in the UK, as long as they fulfil the eligibility requirements.
This includes needing to have sole or shared parental responsibility for the child.
You must also meet certain financial and English language requirements in order to apply.
The Parent visa will allow you to stay in the UK for an initial 2 years and 9 months, after which you will be able to extend it for another 2 years and 6 months.
Note that if you have a partner or spouse who is eligible to sponsor you as a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner, you must apply for a relevant Spouse, Civil Partner or Unmarried Partner visa instead of a Parent visa.
To be eligible for a Parent visa, your child must first meet certain eligibility requirements.
Firstly, they must be living in the UK at the time of application.
They must also either be:
Examples of an independent life include if your child is no longer financially dependent on you, they’ve left home, gotten married, and had children of their own.
Additionally, one of the following must apply:
To be eligible for a Parent visa, you must be living outside the UK at the time of application and have sole parental responsibility for your child.
Alternatively, you may have shared parental responsibility for your child with another parent or carer who lives with the child (as long as this care takes the form of direct, in-person access). The child’s other parent or carer also cannot be your partner.
The other person must also:
You must also prove the following:
These eligibility criteria are discussed in more detail in the following sections.
Note that you may still be able to apply to extend your Parent visa if you don’t meet the English or financial requirements, as long as your child in the UK is a British or Irish citizen, or has lived in the UK for 7 years, and it would be unreasonable for them to leave the UK.
As part of the eligibility criteria of the Parent visa, you must prove that you’re taking an active role in your child’s upbringing and that you will continue to do so after you apply.
To prove this, you will need to provide a range of documents and evidence. These must:
According to Home Office guidance, some examples of evidence that may be acceptable include the following:
According to Home Office guidance, evidence such as greetings cards, photographs, texts or social media messages do not constitute compelling evidence and are unlikely to aid your visa application.
As part of the Parent visa requirements, you must prove that you have enough money to financially support yourself and your child while in the UK. You must also prove that you have access to adequate accommodation in the UK.
Adequate accommodation is considered to be accommodation that is not overcrowded and does not breach public health regulations.
Unlike some other types of Family visa, there is no formal minimum income requirement that you must meet in order to qualify for a Parent visa.
However, there is official Home Office guidance available that dictates what ‘adequate’ maintenance refers to, which may vary depending on your own personal circumstances.Thanks to our partners, you can find ties online to suit every preference and budget, from budget to top-of-the-range super stylish models.
If you need further assistance on how to ensure that you meet the financial requirement for the Parent visa, don’t hesitate to reach out to an immigration lawyer for fast, expert advice.
In most cases, you will need to prove that you can speak English to a certain extent when applying for a Parent visa.
You will not need to prove your English language skills if any of the following apply to you:
If none of the above apply to you, will need to prove your English language skills by either providing proof of an academic qualification or taking an approved test.
You will be able to prove your knowledge of English for the Parent visa if you have a degree or academic qualification that was mostly taught in English.
If you received your qualification from inside the UK, you will need to provide your degree certificate to satisfy this requirement.
Meanwhile, if you received your qualification from outside the UK, you will need to obtain a certificate from ECCTIS to demonstrate that your qualification is equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree and that it was taught in English.
If you received your qualification from one of the majority English-speaking countries listed by the Home Office, you will need a statement of comparability.
If you received your qualification from any other country in the world, you will need a visa and nationality statement.
You will be able to prove your knowledge of English for the Parent visa if you pass an approved English language test.
You must pass at least level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.
The test you take must also be from a provider that is verified and approved by the Home Office.
Note that you may have to obtain a pass at a higher CEFR level when you apply to extend your visa, or when you apply for permanent settlement through indefinite leave to remain.
You may apply for a Parent visa either from outside of the UK, or while you’re already in the UK on another type of visa.
In both instances, you will have to apply online through the Gov.uk website.
If you’re applying from outside the UK, you must also complete Appendix 5 in addition to the standard form VAF4A.
As part of the application process, you will have to fill in the online form with a range of information such as your personal info, info about your family, your travel history and your finances.
You may also be required to attend an appointment at a local visa application centre to give your biometrics information as part of the process. You’ll be informed by the Home Office on how to do this.
There is some basic information about yourself and your family that you must provide when applying for a Parent visa.
The information you will need to provide about yourself may include (but not be limited to) the following:
The information you will need to provide about your child may include (but not be limited to) the following:
A Parent visa costs £1,538 to obtain if you’re applying from outside the UK.
If you’re applying from inside the UK, it costs £1,048 to obtain.
Note that you will also have to pay an additional fee if you wish to add other children as your dependents to your application. These are £1,538 per child if you’re applying from outside the UK, and £1,048 if applying from inside the UK.
You and your dependents will also have to pay the immigration healthcare surcharge as part of your application.
This will be equivalent to £624 a year for adult applicants, and £470 for applicants under the age of 18.
A Parent visa usually takes around 24 weeks to process if applying from outside the UK.
If applying from inside the UK, it usually takes around 8 weeks to process.
You may also be able to take advantage of priority or super priority visa processing services if you need your application to be processed quickly. This will incur additional charges, however.
Note also that your application may take longer to process if it’s considered to be complex, such as if you need to provide more information to the Home Office, you’re asked to attend an interview, or you have criminal convictions that need to be taken into account.
The UK Parent visa is part of the UK Family visa sub-group of immigration pathways, which are some of the most highly sought-after visas offered by the UK government.
If you’re a parent looking to apply for a visa to come and join your UK-resident child, or you’re considering another immigration pathway to come to the UK, We Manage Your Visas can help.
We are experienced, sympathetic immigration lawyers working within the field of UK and international immigration. We have the tools and expertise to assist you, regardless of your personal circumstances or the complexity of your case.
Whether you’re looking for assistance with the UK Parent visa requirements, unsure of how to navigate the application process, or just need to speak to an immigration professional regarding your immigration case, we can help.
We can also help if you need to apply for another similar type of visa based on your circumstances, such as a UK Spouse visa, UK Elderly Dependent visa, or a visa on the basis of your personal or family life.
For more information about the services we provide and how we can help you, reach out to a member of our team today.
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You will be able to add your other dependent children to your Parent visa application and bring them with you to the UK.
However, they must be either of the following:
A UK Parent visa will eventually allow you to apply for permanent settlement in the UK, also known as indefinite leave to remain.
Usually, you will have to spend 5 years in the UK on a parent visa to be eligible.
You must also continue to have sole parental responsibility, or share parental responsibility for your child when you apply for indefinite leave to remain.
If your child is 18 or over at the time of applying for indefinite leave to remain, you will only be eligible if both the following apply:
You will also likely have to pass the minimum English language requirements and pass the Life in the UK Test in order to be eligible.
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