Adult Dependant Relative

Adult Dependant Relative

Adult dependent relatives of British citizens who wish to settle in the UK may apply for an Adult Dependent Relative Visa if they are already in the country, have moved there, have limited permission to stay under Appendix EU, are in the country on refugee status, or have humanitarian protection status.

Requirements for an Adult Dependent Relative Visa 

In order to qualify for an Adult Dependent Relative visa, you will need to satisfy the UK Visas and Immigration: 

• You are the parent aged 18 years or over, grandparent, brother or sister aged 18 years or over or son or daughter aged 18 years or over of a person who is in the UK and that person is over 18 and either a British citizen settled in the UK, has limited leave to remain in the UK under Appendix EU or is a person with refugee leave or humanitarian protection status
• As a result of age, illness or disability, you require long-term personal care (that is help performing everyday tasks, e.g. washing, dressing and cooking)
• You are unable, even with the financial help of your family member in the UK, to obtain the required level of care in the country where you are living because it is not available and there is no person (close relative, home-help, housekeeper, nurse, carer, care or nursing home) in your country who can reasonably provide it, or because it is not affordable
• You will be adequately maintained, accommodated and cared for in the UK by your family member, without recourse to public funds (if your family member is a British citizen or settled in the UK, they will be required to sign a 5-year undertaking to this effect)
• You have provided a TB test pass certificate if required.

In assessing whether there are any persons or facilities in the country where you live who can reasonably provide you with care, the Entry Clearance Officer will consider anyone who can reasonably provide the required level of care. These persons or facilities might include a close family member, a wider family member, a friend or neighbour, home-help, housekeeper, nurse, carer, or nursing/care homes.

The Dependent Adult Due to advanced age, disease, or disability, a relative visa applicant must need ongoing personal care to carry out daily duties, and that care must either be unavailable or prohibitively expensive where they now reside.

Even if the person applying for an Adult Dependent Relative visa does experience the high level of ill health required by the second criterion, the third criterion is even harder to meet. Most sponsors who are able to afford to maintain and accommodate their dependent relative for five years will find it hard to prove that they cannot afford to provide care for that relative in their country of origin.

If the sponsor is a British citizen or has established residency in the UK, the adult dependent relative will be awarded a settlement. In other situations, the Adult Dependent Relative is given a temporary permit that expires on the same day as the temporary permit of their sponsor. Once in the UK, they can apply for settlement or a new permit to continue to be under the sponsorship of their sponsor.

As the sponsor, you will be required to sign a sponsorship undertaking (Form SU07). The purpose of the undertaking is to confirm that the Adult Dependent Relative will have no recourse to public funds and that you will be responsible for them for a period of 5 years from the date they enter the UK (if they are granted indefinite leave to enter). The Home Office application fee for an Adult Dependent Relative visa should also be paid.

The Adult Dependent Relative visa route is only available to applicants outside the UK. It is not possible to switch into the Adult Dependent Relative route from within the UK. 

However, there are some specific circumstances in which it is possible for a dependent relative to apply for leave to remain on human rights grounds from within the UK. 

The Home Office may still grant permission for a person to enter the UK even if they have applied for an Adult Dependent Relative visa from outside the country and the Home Office is not convinced that they meet all of the requirements of the route because doing so would violate Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention and have unjustifiably severe repercussions for them or their family.

There is a separate route for an Adult Dependent Relative of a BN(O) Status Holder under Appendix Hong Kong British National (Overseas).