Young children can and do ask difficult questions. This question is going to be a minefield for parents to deal with due to new laws introduced last month which prevent visit visas being issued to someone who the Government thinks is using the visit visa route to live in the UK for "extended periods of time through frequent or successive visits."
Many Grandparents who have previously come to the UK regularly, without difficulty, will find that these new rules will mean that these visits require to be less frequent and less regular as otherwise future visa applications could be prejudiced.
Why has this happened? The answer lies in what is becoming an oft repeated phenomena, in Theresa May's Home Office; when this Secretary of State loses a case in the courts, as the law is not on the Government side, her response is to change the law!
The reason the rules are being changed here is due to a heavy loss the Government sustained in a family visitor case last year that came before the Upper Tribunal.
The case of Sawmynaden (Family visitors- considerations) [2012] UKUT 00161 (IAC) involved a widow from Mauritius, who had children and grandchildren in the UK and travelled here every year to spend time with them. She always returned home to Mauritius within the terms of her visit visa, yet despite this proven track record of compliance with the law, in 2011 her visa was refused on the grounds that she was not a genuine visitor as she was spending too much time in the UK.
The Upper Tribunal in an extremely helpful decision allowed her appeal and saw no difficulties with the idea of Grandparents coming to the UK for extended periods to help out with child care and family emergencies so long as the individual had retained sufficiently strong links with her country of residence to show they had an intention to return home.
Followers of Immigration law, will be aware of the draconian changes that were introduced in July last year in respect of settlement applications for elderly dependents. These changes make it practically impossible for elderly parents to settle. A visa will only be issued to those parents who require "long-term personal care to perform everyday tasks".
So in light of these new settlement rules, for many families the only way to have regular quality time with grandparents was by frequent and successive visits. The Government has now blocked this route.
Anyone wishing to apply for a visit visa for parents/grandparents should seek legal advice. This area of the law has become a minefield and advice at the application stage is critical in order to avoid a challenge in the courts.
For further information, please contact any member of our Immigration Team.