The HM Armed Forces route is for you if you are a member of His Majesty’s (HM) Armed Forces discharging from service (‘service leavers’) and wish to move to or stay in the UK. This route is for HM armed forces and their dependent family members. Member of Armed Forces and servicemen, here means an applicant who has been discharged within 2 years before the date of application.
You can apply for this visa route up to 18 weeks before being discharged from the service. You can apply from within the UK or overseas.
The HM Armed Forces route also leads to settlement, i.e., ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain).
The first requirement of the HM Armed Forces Visa Route is that you fulfill its validity requirement. Let us see the validity requirements:
There must not be a general ground for refusal present under Part 9: Grounds for Refusal.
You also have to fulfill certain eligibility requirements for the HM armed forces route. Let's see the eligibility requirements:
You must currently or previously be a member of HM armed forces, including the British Army, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force (RAF), and members of the Gurkhas and Commonwealth citizens.
You must apply for and obtain entry clearance before coming to the UK.
You must have completed a minimum of years of reckonable service which is at least 4 years in the HM armed forces or you may be considered for the HM armed forces route if you were discharged from your service before 4 years due to medical circumstances.
You can meet the medical discharge requirement for leave to enter or remain if you were discharged from your service due to medical conditions such as an injury or sustained illness during your service.
Depending on whether you meet the eligibility requirements for settlement or leave to remain, you will be granted the immigration status accordingly. If you are granted leave to remain, you will usually be granted an initial leave of up to 30 months.
If you fail to meet the requirements, your application will be refused; you can apply for an administrative review.
Dependents of a member of HM Armed Forces or of an HM Armed Forces service leaver
Dependents include the following:
The validity requirements for dependents of a member of HM Armed Forces or of an HM Armed Forces service leaver are the same as those for the main applicant mentioned above.
There should not be a general ground for refusal present under Part 9: Grounds for Refusal.
The HM armed forces member's spouse, fiancé, or children must obtain entry clearance before arriving in the UK.
You must prove your relationship with the armed forces serving or former member. For example, if you are a spouse or civil partner of an HM armed forces member, you must show a marriage certificate or civil
partnership certificate that is recognized in the UK proving your relationship. Your relationship must be genuine and subsisting, and you must intend to live together permanently in the UK.
If you are a fiancé or proposed civil partner, you must prove that your relationship is genuine, and you both must have met in person. You must also intend to marry or enter into a civil partnership with your partner in the UK within 6 months of the date of entry to the UK.
If you are a dependent child, you must not be leading an independent life, and you are financially dependent on your parent/s. To prove the relationship of the child to his parents, the birth certificate of the child can be produced.
If you are applying on or after 11 April 2024, you or your partner or the combined income of both of you must be at least £23,496. You don’t need any extra income requirements for a dependent child.
Financial requirements can also be met by combining savings of at least £16,000 and annual income (if it is less than £23,496). You may be exempted from meeting the financial requirement if the member of the HM Armed Forces, or the HM Armed Forces service leaver, is a beneficiary of benefits such as disability living allowance, severe disablement allowance, industrial injury disablement benefit, attendance
allowance, carer’s allowance, or other such allowances.
Unless exempt, you must meet the English language requirement of at least Level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in speaking and listening.
Immigration status granted to the dependents of a member of HM Armed Forces or of an HM Armed Forces Service Leaver
If you are granted entry clearance or permission to stay as a partner, you will be granted whichever is shorter:
Immigration rules for His Majesty’s (HM) Armed Forces discharging from service (‘service leavers’) and their dependents are complex. There are multiple conditions to be met before applying for leave to enter, leave to remain, or indefinite leave to remain. This is why you must seek expert guidance to be able to apply successfully for the HM armed forces route.
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