🇬🇧 Family reunification

The updated guidance explains that where an applicant does not meet the requirements for permission to stay under the long residence route, the caseworker may consider whether the application should be varied to one under Appendix FM or Appendix Private Life. If the applicant meets the requirements under the relevant alternative route, permission should be granted under those provisions. Appendix FM covers family-life applications, including applications based on qualifying relationships as a partner, parent or child. Appendix Private Life provides a separate route for people whose circumstances meet its requirements for permission to stay. The applicable eligibility criteria differ between the routes, and the fact that an applicant has lived in the UK for a long time does not, by itself, establish eligibility under either one. The variation procedure does not require an additional application fee for the permission-to-stay application, according to the updated guidance. However, the fee already paid for the original application is not refunded. UKVI must contact the applicant to explain the variation and request payment of any required Immigration Health Surcharge or an application for a waiver. The applicant has 14 days to pay the surcharge or apply for a waiver. If the applicant applies for a waiver within that period but the waiver is refused, they are notified that the surcharge must be paid within 10 working days. If the required payment or waiver request is not made within the applicable period, the guidance directs caseworkers to reject the application as invalid. Where the alternative-route requirements are met and the relevant procedural requirements are satisfied, permission should be granted under Appendix FM or Appendix Private Life. The updated guidance does not guarantee that an application will be varied in every case. It also does not replace the rules governing settlement, qualifying residence, suitability, family relationships or private life. It clarifies how an alternative route may be considered where the original long residence application cannot succeed.

The amended Visitor rules create a dedicated Erasmus+ Activities section. Subject to the relevant eligibility conditions, Erasmus+ participants can now undertake a wider range of activities in the UK under the Visitor route. These include providing or receiving training at a UK organisation or educational institution, taking part in courses at a UK organisation or educational institution, undertaking a traineeship of up to 30 days, participating in practical learning through job shadowing at a UK organisation or educational institution, including sports organisations, and undertaking coaching or training assignments at UK sports organisations. The rules also allow Erasmus+ participants to study at UK state-funded schools and academies where the study forms part of an Erasmus+ project. These placements can last for up to six months, subject to the Visitor route requirements. Other permitted activities have also been clarified or expanded. Erasmus+ participants can take part in short educational exchanges, DiscoverEU trips, preparatory visits, debates, role-playing activities, awareness campaigns, meetings, seminars, conferences, networking events, workshops and skills competitions where the relevant requirements are met. For under-18 participants, the rules introduce additional safeguards. Where a child is undertaking a traineeship or job shadowing placement, they must have permission from their parent or legal guardian and their home institution. The Home Office says these requirements are intended both to ensure participants are genuine Erasmus+ participants and to safeguard participants under 18. The new rules do not mean that every Erasmus+ participant can automatically enter the UK as a visitor. Participants must still satisfy the general Standard Visitor requirements. They must be genuine visitors, undertake a permitted activity, intend to leave the UK at the end of the visit and have sufficient funds for themselves and any dependants.

The UK Global Business Mobility Service Supplier route now includes additional eligible trade agreements: the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and India, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Additionally, Canada and Mexico have been added to Table C, which details sectors covered under specific agreements. The guidance also reflects commitments made with Australia and New Zealand, and includes information on the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.

The Parent of a Child Student route allows one parent to come to or stay in the UK to care for their child who is studying under Appendix Child Student. The child must be aged between 4 and 11, attend an independent fee-paying school (not a state school or academy), and be in the UK under the Child Student route or applying for it. Applicants must be 18 or over, apply online, pay fees and the Immigration Health Charge, provide biometrics, and a valid travel document. They must intend to live with the Child Student and not intend to make the UK their main home, demonstrating sufficient funds to maintain their main home outside the UK. Financial requirements include £1,560 per month for the applicant (up to 9 months) and £625 per month for any additional children (up to 9 months), unless exempt. Permission is granted until the child's permission ends or they turn 12, whichever is sooner. Conditions include no access to public funds, no work, and no study.

The Immigration Rules Appendix FM-SE, which details the specified evidence required for family member applications under Appendix FM and other related appendices (such as HM Armed Forces, International Armed Forces, Adult Dependent Relative, and Adoption), has been updated. Key changes include the deletion of certain provisions. Specifically, deletions have occurred in sub-paragraphs D(b)(i)(cc) and D(d)(ii) regarding the handling of document submission errors or wrong formats. Additionally, specific requirements related to bank statements under 1(a)(ii) and general financial provisions under 1(h) have been deleted. The updated rules clarify how decision-makers may handle missing or incorrect documents, allowing for requests for correction or discretion in certain circumstances, and outline precise requirements for financial evidence, including bank statements, payslips, and the treatment of third-party support and foreign currency.

The substantive requirements for ECAA settlement remain in place. The key change is that ECAA Settlement is now expressly included among the routes eligible for administrative review. The amendment to Appendix Administrative Review inserts: “Appendix ECAA Settlement: ECAA nationals and settlement” into the list of specified routes eligible for administrative review. This means that where an applicant receives an eligible refusal under Appendix ECAA Settlement, they can use the administrative-review process to challenge an alleged caseworking error, subject to the applicable requirements. Administrative review examines whether the original decision was wrong because the decision-maker: failed to apply the relevant Immigration Rules; or incorrectly applied the relevant Immigration Rules; or failed to apply or incorrectly applied published guidance. The current administrative-review guidance also expressly lists ECAA Settlement among the routes for which an eligible decision can be reviewed. What this does not do The amendment does not: create a new ECAA settlement route; reduce the five-year qualifying period; remove the English-language requirement; remove the Life in the UK requirement; remove suitability requirements; create a new ECAA visa; automatically overturn previous refusals; or guarantee that an administrative review will succeed. It gives qualifying applicants an additional procedural safeguard against an incorrect refusal.

The amended AF 21.2 now states that where a child's sole parent is: a member of HM Armed Forces; exempt from immigration control; and does not hold permission under the Immigration Rules, the child will be granted five years' permission to stay. There is also a related alignment rule where the child has only one parent who has permission to enter or stay in the UK. The general position is that a dependent child's permission will normally end on the same date as the parent's permission, unless the parent is a British citizen or a person who has an unrestricted right to enter or stay in the UK and is ordinarily resident in the UK. -Settlement qualifying period: The amendment also clarifies an exception to the normal 60-month qualifying period for children. A child does not need to complete 60 months under Appendix HM Armed Forces where: their parent meets the 60-month qualifying requirement and is being granted settlement at the same time; or their sole parent is a serving member of HM Armed Forces who is currently exempt from immigration control and is applying for settlement under the service-leaver provisions. This means certain children can obtain settlement alongside their parent without first completing their own separate five-year period under the Appendix.

The new guidance introduces provisions for paragraphs 297 and 298 within Part 8 of the Immigration Rules, updates references to Part Suitability, and improves the accuracy of information. It specifically details suitability requirements for the 5-year family settlement route in Appendix FM, and the process for handling simultaneous EU Settlement Scheme applications, including confirming which application the applicant wants decided if both are granted.

The caseworker guidance has been updated to include instructions on issuing a Form for Accompanying an eVisa (FAV).