7 years child route is for those children who were born in the UK or came as children to the UK and have lived for 7 straight years in the UK. You can apply for indefinite leave to remain if you were born in the UK and leave to remain if you came as a child to the UK, you are below 18 years of age and you have lived for 7 years continuously in the UK. Children who came to the UK as children can apply for an initial period of 30 months or 60 months. The 7-year child route also enables you to apply for indefinite leave to remain if you spend 5 years continuously in the UK. You can make an application under the 7-year route as set out in the Appendix Private Life of the immigration rules.
If you are parents and/or minor siblings you can also apply for leave to remain either at the same time or later on after the applicant child has been granted leave to remain in the UK. Parents and/or siblings can be granted an initial leave to remain for 30 months under 10 year route to settlement which enables you to apply for ILR under 10 years of lawful residence in the UK under Appendix Private Life of the immigration rules.

7 years child – Private life route requirements for ILR

• Provide proof of the child’s identity and nationality.
• Provide birth certificate;
• Provide evidence of presence in the UK;
• Must not fall for refusal under suitability requirement;
• Provide evidence why it is not reasonable for the child to leave the UK.

Temporary Residency requirements

To meet the continuous residence requirements, applicants must have:

• Arrived in the UK as a child and met all of the following criteria:
• Have lived in the UK for 7 years continuously since they arrived in the UK with a valid visa on the date of application; or
• Their first visa was granted based on a private life when their age was between 18 and 24;
• Must not fall for refusal under the suitability requirement;
• Arrived in the UK as a child; and
• It is not reasonable for the child to leave the UK

The Reasonability Test

The reasonability test needs to assess the age of the child, whether the child has any other family or friends in the UK, the private life built by the child; whether it is in the best interest for the child to leave the UK, are there any family or friends in the country of return; whether the child has ever visited the country they might be returned to and for how long.

The 7-year rule includes time spent in the UK with or without permission. However, 7-year period does not count any length of time where the applicant served a sentence of imprisonment or was detained in an institution other than a prison.
The Home Office 7-year rule is also applicable for those who spent time in the UK on any other type of visa.

7-year period will be broken if the following is true:

If you have been absent from the UK for more than 6 months during any applicable years of residence in the UK.
You have spent more than 550 days outside the UK during the entire 7 year period If you have been detained or deported outside the UK or you have left the UK as a result of your application for entry or leave to remain being refused.

Documents required

You must submit the following documents for 7-year child visa route:

• The child’s valid passport or travel document, birth certificate or registration document, or any other valid identity documents
• Evidence of Continuous Residence such as residential address history, school records, medical records
• Parental consent and relationship documents such as full birth certificates of the child and both parents
• Legal custody or guardianship documents if applicable
• Financial documents such as proof of parental income and financial stability, and bank statements.
• English language proficiency documents such as language test results or certification or any other document relevant to English language proficiency

Should you wish to apply for the 7-year child parent route, please contact Visa and Migration Ltd and one of our lawyers can assess your circumstances to establish whether you meet the Eligibility requirements.

You can also follow us on social media 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/visaandmigration/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/visamigrationuk 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/visa-and-migration-a4aa9910b 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel