Improved private life provisions for children and young adults in the UK

On 20 June 2022, the new Appendix Private Life to the Immigration Rules came into force. This replaced the previous provisions in paragraph 276ADE of the Immigration Rules which provided a ten year route to settlement based on private life in the UK. The new rules introduce a number of changes affecting the rights of children and young adults in the UK immigration system.

Perhaps most notably, subject to a reasonableness requirement, children who are born in the UK will now be eligible for indefinite leave to remain after completing seven years’ continuous residence, as opposed to being eligible for 30 months’ leave under the previous rules. This means that UK-born children reaching the age of seven will be able to apply for settlement straight away, rather than having to make a series of costly applications over the course of ten years; and UK-born children who were granted leave to remain under the previous seven year rule will now be eligible to settle immediately.

The new appendix also includes welcome changes for children and young people born outside the UK, who will now be able to apply for up to five years leave at a time once they have completed a specified period of continuous residence: seven years for children and under 18, and at least half their life for young people aged between 18 and 25. Additionally, people granted leave in this category will now be able to settle after five years on the private life route, as opposed to ten.

The provision for settlement after five years is applicable to children and young adults who currently have leave on the previous ten year private life route to settlement, incorporating into the Immigration Rules the Home Office’s early ILR concession that was reported by our Lauren Mizen in November last year. The effect of this is that such children and young people will now be eligible to apply for settlement once they have completed a five year qualifying period of leave, rather than having to wait until they have accrued ten years’ qualifying residence, as was previously the case. There is also increased flexibility as to the types of leave that can count towards the qualifying period, with a ‘mix and match’ approach being introduced for certain categories of permission. This will provide many children and young adults with the opportunity to settle earlier than expected.

 

If you or your child have completed the relevant period of residence and would like advice on making an application under the new private life rules, please do contact either our Edinburgh or Glasgow offices by emailing Immigration@drummondmiller.co.uk and one of our experienced solicitors will be able to assist you.