Family Member Visa Advice UK

You must be outside the UK to apply and need long-term care from a parent, grandchild, brother, sister, son or daughter who is living permanently in the UK.

You cannot apply for this type of stay from within the UK as a traveler with limited leave, such an application however compelling is likely to be refused by the Home Office.

Adults applying for long term care must show that long-term care to do everyday personal and household tasks because of illness, disability or your age is required. More importantly, as the foreign adult requiring a visa for care, you must prove that the care need is not available or affordable in the country you live in.

Your UK Sponsor must supply a genuine, and truthful undertaking, to state that he or she is willing to support you, accommodate and care for you without claiming public funds for at least 5 years.

How long you can stay for, your stay will be:

• unlimited if you applied to join a family member who’s British or settled in the UK – you will not need to apply to extend or settle
• as long as your family member’s stay if they have refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK – you’ll need to apply to extend or settle when they do

Spouse visa holder whose sponsor died rights:

A Spouse who had leave to remain as the partner of a British citizen or a settled person, or those previously granted 30 months leave to remain as a bereaved partner, are able to apply, please do not hesitate to contact us regarding your application.

Grandparents requiring long term care:

To be eligible for a UK elderly dependent visa, an applicant must apply from outside of the UK and evidence that they are in need of long-term care from a parent, grandchild, brother, sister, son or daughter, who is permanently living in the UK.

How long can grandparents needing care stay in the UK:

Grandparents visa may enter the UK and stay for an unlimited period of time.

The Grandparent visa holder will not be required to extend their visa or apply for settlement status, unless the sponsoring family member has refugee status or humanitarian protection.

Can a foreign adult requiring care be refused social services assistance?

Yes, these services are not offered and excluded to foreign nationals applying for care sponsor from their British or settled family member in the UK.

When the exclusion applies, social services will need to carry out a human rights assessment as well as a needs assessment to establish whether help can be given.

The five groups are:

• European Economic Area (EEA) nationals (not British citizens)
• People who are unlawfully present in the UK (including visa overstayers; illegal entrants and refused asylum seekers who claimed asylum in-country, rather than a port of entry)
• People with refugee status that has been granted by an EEA country
• Refused asylum seekers who have failed to comply with removal directions
• Refused asylum-seeking families that the Home Office has issued with certification confirming that they have failed to take steps to leave the UK voluntarily

The exclusion is set out in Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and also applies to the dependents of the people above.

The exclusion does not apply to children, but when a parent is in an excluded group, the whole family may be prevented from receiving housing and financial support.​​​

The exclusion does not mean that a person or family can automatically be refused assistance, and in practice, there will often be a reason why support can be provided.

What does the exclusion mean in practice?

When people approach social services for assistance, the council will check their immigration status with the Home Office in order to establish whether the exclusion applies.

Local councils are required by law to inform the Home Office of anyone presenting who is unlawfully present. A refused asylum seeker who has failed to cooperate with removal directions or a refused asylum-seeking family certified by the Home Office as having not taken steps to leave the UK.

If a person requesting assistance is in an excluded group, social services will undertake a human rights assessment, and will first consider whether the person or family can freely return to their country of origin.

Things that prevent this include:

• A pending human rights application made to the Home Office or a subsequent appeal
• Inability to travel due to illness or medical condition
• Lack of travel or identity documents

If there is such a barrier in place preventing the person from returning to their country of origin, then it is likely that the local authority will be required to provide assistance when the person or family meets the relevant eligibility criteria. For example; to a family with a child in need of an adult who has eligible care needs. Social services will regularly review the status of the barrier.

What information is the Home Office decision-maker likely to want:

The Home Office will require a lot of supporting documents to assess whether or not it is possible to grant the visa. We are pleased to supply this information, please complete the form and receive the Home Office Enquiry list now.

To understand which category you come under, you can call for guidance during or office hours.

You can contact us today as the sponsor for free legal guidance.