ILR for Dependants

Specific eligibility criteria for partners are that they:

• Have lived with the main applicant in the UK on Dependant visas for 5 years;
• Are still in a relationship with the main applicant and the couple intend to continue to live together;
• Have not spent more than 180 days in any 12 month rolling period outside the UK during the validity of any visa issued after 11 January 2018 (when the ‘continuous residence’ requirement was extended to partners).

The new rule for Global Talent/ Tier 1 Exceptional and Skilled Worker/ Tier 2 visa holders who work in research and lecturer roles, under which periods of research outside the UK are no longer counted against the limit on absences, also applies to partners who hold Dependant visas and have accompanied them during these periods.

Some partners may not have lived in the UK under a Dependant visa for five years, and will not yet be eligible to apply when the main applicant is applying for ILR. They may, for example, have arrived in the UK later than the main applicant, or held a different visa and only recently switched to a Dependant visa.

Once the main applicant has been granted ILR, however, it is possible for a partner to continue under, and extend, their Dependant visa to get to the point they can apply for ILR. As both parents must have settled for children to be eligible, if a partner cannot apply for ILR until later any children will also have to wait and apply with them.

A partner who does not hold a Dependant visa before the main applicant is granted ILR will have to apply as the spouse/partner of a settled person. They would then have to spend five years under that visa route to be able to apply for ILR.

Specific eligibility criteria for children under 18 years old are that they:

• Hold a Dependant visa (there is no specific length of time they must have spent in the UK);
• Are applying for ILR at the same time as both their parents (or their sole surviving parent / parent with sole responsibility), or their parents have already been granted settlement;
• Are not married or in a civil partnership;
• Will continue to live with and be supported by the main applicant.

As both parents must have settled for children to be eligible, if a partner cannot apply until later any children will also have to wait and apply with them.

Children over 16 years old when applying must also provide documents showing that they are:

• still financially dependent on the main applicant;
• still live with the main applicant (unless studying at school, college, or university); and
• are not living an independent life.

Children over 18 years old when applying cannot be included in the main applicant’s ILR application and must instead submit their own application, based on five years in the UK on Dependant visas. They must also meet the English language requirements and have passed the ‘Life in the UK’ test.

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Before parents are granted ILR

When one or both parents of a child born in the UK are granted ILR, an application can be submitted to the Home Office to Register the child as a British citizen without the child needing to have been granted ILR. Once the application is granted, an application can be made for a British passport for the child.

After parents are granted ILR

Children born in the UK after one or both parents have been granted ILR are automatically British by birth, and an application can be made for a British passport for the child.

A note on dual nationality

As some countries do not permit their citizens to hold dual nationality if a child becomes British they may lose their own citizenship. SIT recommends that applicants check with their own embassy or consulate whether their country permits dual nationality, and consider this issue before applying.

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