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Family Member Visa Advice UK

What do you need to know about Family member visas?

Family member visas for the UK can be for a short period visit, or you may wish to live as a settled foreign family member of either a British national, settled national or even as a family member of an EU Citizen, as your sponsor.

With our assistance, your family member visas will be prepared carefully, these applications although on the face of it appear simple, they are very technical and require detailed evidence for the Home Office to be satisfied.

You can also read about our Spouse and Marriage Visa legal support in this site for further guidance, this guidance is supplied separately for the avoidance of doubt.

There are several types of family member visas, depending upon the type of relationship and tie you have to the UK Sponsor.

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    Child settlement and care visa

    The most popular family member applications are from children requiring settled status in the UK. The child must be a dependant of either a British Citizen or that of a person that has permanently settled in the UK. It is only then that the child settlement or care application can be submitted.

    The straightforward legal requirements state that the child must be under 18, not leading an independent life, including married and therefore must not have formed an independent family life.

    The child sponsor is usually the parents and must meet the financial requirements, further also show that they can accommodate the foreign child without any support from the welfare system.

    Adults requiring long term care

    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.

    Family Members Applications FAQs

    You’ll need a family visa to come to the UK and live with a family member for more than 6 months. If you’re outside the UK you can apply to live with your:
    • spouse or partner
    • fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner
    • child
    • parent
    • relative who’ll provide long-term care for you
    If you’re already in the UK, you can apply to extend your stay with your family member.

    No, you can sponsor if you have indefinite leave to remain. You can support the application of a person who is applying to come to the UK to visit or settle (they have ‘indefinite leave to remain’ or proof of permanent residence).

    This form is to confirm that you will be responsible for the applicant’s maintenance, accommodation and care, without relying on public funds:

    • for at least 5 years, if they are applying to settle
    • throughout their stay in the UK, if they are applying to visit

    Yes, On 1 February 2017, the EEA Regulations 2006 were revoked and replaced by the EEA Regulations 2016.

    The changes to the public policy and public security provisions of the 2106 EEA Regulations require individuals to be removed under a time-limited deportation order (under public policy) rather than through an administrative removal if they:

    • have entered into, attempted to enter into, or assisted another person to (attempt to) enter into a marriage of convenience
    • have fraudulently obtained an EEA right to reside

    There has therefore been a removal of sham marriage as an administrative removal category.

    Unlike a decision to deport under Regulation 23(6)(b), a person who is administratively removed from the UK is not subject to a fixed bar on re-entry.

    If the application is straightforward it may take 6 to 12 months.

    Family Member Visa Reviews

    See some of our reviews about Shabana Shahab, who will be your lead consultant, her wealth of experience and client management skills is a reflection of why many Family Member Visa cases, have been successfully managed before the Home Office.

    Subina Shami
    Jersey
    Read More
    My mother's application for settlement in the U. K. Was professionally and diligently handled by Status Solutions. Thorough research was carried out by Shabana Shahab to provide overwhelming evidence which proved that there were compelling circumstances to grant my mother a visa for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the United Kingdom. The Immigration authorities issued the visa for my ailing mother, as Shabana ensured that all legal angles were covered. I would highly recommend Status Solutions.
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    Ryan Fourie
    Read More
    I would like to thank Immigration Status UK for all their help with getting my family and I to the UK. Thanks for all the hard work and effort put in.
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