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7 year child parent route

Do you need to apply for a 7 year child parent route?

Speak to our experts to find out about our fast, friendly and affordable service

Are you a parent of a child who has lived in the UK for 7 years continuously? If yes, you can apply to get limited leave to remain in the UK for your child and yourself.
The test required to be fulfilled by you is to show –

  • The child must be below 18 years of age on the date of application;
  • Is living in the UK;
  • Has lived continuously for 7 years in the UK (discounting any period of imprisonment);
  • It would not be reasonable to expect the child to leave the UK; and
  • The Best Interest of the child lies in the UK

A child can apply under the private life route if the child has lived continuously in the UK for at least 7 years and it is proved that it would be unreasonable to expect that the child 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 childparent 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.


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 10 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.

Do you need to apply for a 7 year child parent route?

Speak to our experts to find out about our fast, friendly and affordable service



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Visa and Migration is a private OISC regulated company (F201500999) and is not an official Government body. If you would like to prepare and submit your UK immigration application yourself you can do so by visiting the UKVI website.