7 Year Child Parent Route, How To Apply and Step By Step Guide!

If you have a child in the UK and they have lived in the UK for a continuous 7 years, you may be able to apply for leave to remain in the UK. However, you must keep in mind that this is not the only requirement. To fulfil the eligibility requirmeents under this route, you must show that:

• The child on the basis of whom the application is being submitted is under the age of 18 years; 

• The child must be in the UK; 

• The child must be living in the UK continuously for 7 years, this period does not include any periof of imprisonment; 

• It must not be reasonable for the child to leave the UK, that means that the chid has an extensive private life built in the UK and family life if the family members are British or settled; and

• The removal of the child from the UK will compomise the welfare of the child and therefore will not be in the best interest of the child

If a child has lived in teh UK for 7 years from the time of their birth, it is generally considered that the child has spent formative years of their life in the UK and therefore can be granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK, provided it is established that it will be unreasonable for the child to leave the UK. However, if the child was not born in the UK and rather came to the UK whilst being a minor and have spent 7 years they will be granted leave to remain in the UK, again they still need to prove that it would be unreasonable for them to leave the UK. 

In 2012 the new rules were officially ratified into the UK immigration rules and now it requires enough evidence to be submitted along with 7 years residency to prove that it would not be reasonable to expect the child to leave the UK. So, the 7 year child parent route is still a critical factor for the UK Home Office in granting a child leave to remain in the UK. Currently the applications for children are covered under Appendix Private Life of the Immigration Rules. 

Why 7 years rule?

The 7 Years rule is there because it is considered that 7 years of residence in the UK for a child is sufficient for the child to have integrated and adapted to life in the UK and removing the child from the UK would be detrimental to that child's well-being. The UK Government is bound to make the decision for the child in his/her best interest now and the 7-year rule also makes the Home Department consider the human rights of an individual under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Parents are also able to benefit from the Human Rights Arguments under this route.

If the child has built a life outside their family unit then it is considered that the child has a private life in the UK, It is advisable to provide considerable amount of evidence to support the fact about the child's private life.

How long can a child live in the UK once leave to remain granted?

The child can be granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK for applications submitted under Appendix Private Life provided that the child was born in the UK and it is not reasonable to remove the child from the UK If the child is not born in the UK then they will be granted 30 months leave to remain under this route.

Indefinite leave to remain and British Citizenship

Application for indefinite leave to remain can be submitted once you have completed 7 continuous years in the UK. On the other hand, a child who was born in the UK and spent the first 10 years of his/her life (with no absence of more than 90 days in each year) is
entitled to register as a British Citizen under Section 1 (4) of the British Nationality Act 1981. However, "Good Character" is a critical requirement for the British Citizenship application.

Get in touch with Visa & Migration

If you are looking to apply for leave to remain under the 7 year child parent route, you can get in touch with us for the best support and services, call us on 02034111261.