Coming to Settle
From United Kingdom Wiki
Once an individual has been granted ILR or settlement there are no further immigration restrictions on what they can do here. They are able to work or set up in business without needing any extra permission. If they leave the UK, they will be allowed in again without requiring entry clearance provided they have not been away for more than two years and that they confirm they are returning to stay. People who were settled and have been away for more than two years may still be allowed to settle again in certain circumstances, for example, if they have lived here for the majority of their life.
ILR can now be revoked however where it is determined that status was acquired by deception, or where the holders continued presence in the UK is considered a threat to national security. An in-country right of appeal exists in such cases.
Spouses
To gain admission as a spouse capacity it must be proved to an entry clearance officer that:
You are the husband or wife of a person present and settled in the UK.
You intend to live together permanently with your settled spouse.
You have met; and
There is adequate support and accommodation for yourselves and your dependants without reliance on public funds.
When an application is successful, the applicant will be allowed in for two years. Before the end of the second year, an application to the Home Office for settlement or ILR should be made. To qualify the Home Office must be persuaded that the couple still intend to stay together and can support and accommodate themselves without relying on public funds before this is granted.
English and Welsh law and the Immigration Rules do not recognise polygamous marriages for the purposes of seeking entry to the UK as a spouse.
Unmarried Couples
The immigration rules now facilitate admission to the UK for unmarried couples. The conditions for admission, whilst comparable to those applicable to spouses in some respects, are more demanding. The principle requirements are that:
You are the unmarried partner of a person present and settled in the UK and you have lived together in a relationship akin to marriage for two years.
Your partner has a right of abode or ILR and you have lived together in a relationship akin to marriage for four years; and
Any previous marriages or similar relationships have permanently broken down.
You are not related by blood.
You intend to live together permanently with your partner.
There is adequate support and accommodation for yourselves and your dependants without reliance on public funds.
A period of two years leave to enter will generally be granted following a successful application. As with spouses, an application for ILR may be submitted at the end of the two-year period, which will be granted provided the Home Office is persuaded that the relationship is subsisting, the couple intend to remain together permanently and there will be no recourse to public funds.
Domestic Violence
Persons admitted to the UK as a spouse or unmarried couple whose relationships permanently break down as a result of domestic violence may still be able to secure ILR even where they have failed to complete the initial period of probationary leave. This is because of a ‘domestic violence concession’ announced by the Home Office in July 1998 which may help women who have been the victims of domestic violence. Applicants must provide evidence, the nature of which is specified by the Home Office, which establishes that the violence complained of caused the breakdown of the relationship. Qualification in this category is not easy as the evidential requirements are strictly imposed, and may include the production of police reports, exclusion orders and medical records of injuries.
Fiancés and Fiancées
In order to come here to get married an applicant has to meet similar criteria to spouses and in addition show that he or she intends to get married soon after arrival in the UK. If granted entry clearance, the applicant will be allowed entry for six months, during which time he or she is expected to get married. Those admitted in this category will not be allowed to work until they get permission from the Home Office to stay. If successful, they will be granted permission to stay for two years, after which they will be granted settlement if they continue to satisfy the requirements.
Children
Children under 18 may be allowed to join parents here (or to join one parent if the other parent is dead) if:
They obtain entry clearance.
Both their parents (if living) are settled here.
The parent(s) can adequately support and accommodate the child without reliance on public funds.
If children are coming to join one parent and the other parent is still alive but not coming to live here, or coming to join a relative other than a parent, it must be proved either that:
The parent living here has had sole responsibility for the child’s upbringing. There are serious and compelling family or other considerations making the child’s exclusion from the UK undesirable.
The rules are difficult to satisfy. In practice however they are not interpreted so strictly for children under twelve coming to join their mothers.
The term ‘sole responsibility’ is not interpreted literally. It is acknowledged that to some degree a delegation of responsibility must occur as a result of physical separation. To determine whether the rule is satisfied it is necessary to look at what is done in the child’s life, by whom and whether it has been done at the direction of the UK settled parent. Evidence of protracted financial support, genuine interest and affection and regular consultation between the settled parent and the overseas carer as to matters of schooling, upbringing and activities may fulfil the requirement.
The ‘serious and compelling considerations’ criteria is stricter still. Factors include: evidence of the incapacity and/or unwillingness of the carer overseas to continue to look after the child, the child’s living conditions, the particular vulnerability of younger children and the importance of maintaining family unity.
Adoption
It has long been possible for adopted children under the age of 18 to enter the UK where it can be demonstrated that the adoption has occurred in accordance with the decision of a competent administrative authority or court in the country where the child is resident, and where the other elements of the Immigration Rules are met (see below).
Since 1 April 2003 ‘de facto’ adoption has been formally permitted by the Immigration Rules, which allow the admission of adopted children from countries where no legal adoption procedure exists, or where the system operating is not recognised by the UK. A de facto adoption will be regarded as having taken placed where the adoptive parent(s) can show that:
They have lived together abroad for a period of 18 months.
They have cared for the child for the twelve months immediately before the application for entry; and
They have assumed the role of the child’s parents and there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility.
Regardless of which of the adoption categories into which the child falls all parents seeking leave to enter must also demonstrate that:
The adoption took place because the natural parents were unable to care for the child.
The child has lost or broken ties with the natural family.
That the reason for the adoption was not simply to bring the child to the UK.
That the child can be adequately maintained and accommodated without recourse to public funds.
If a child in any of the above categories is deemed to be leading an independent life, is married or has formed an independent family unit before reaching the age of 18, he or she will not be eligible to be admitted under the Immigration Rules concerning ‘children’.
Parents and Grandparents
Parents and grandparents over 65 years can join children or grandchildren settled in the UK if it can be demonstrated that:
They are a widow or widower (separated parents are equated with widow), or a couple one of who is over 65;
or
They have remarried but cannot look to the spouse or children of your second marriage for financial support;
and
They are wholly or mainly financially dependent on children in the UK.
There are no other close relatives in the country of origin to turn to for care and support.
They and their spouse can be supported and accommodated by their children in the UK without reliance on public funds.
Home Office guidance establishes that elderly parents and grandparents in this category should be granted ILR without detailed enquiry where a reliable undertaking of support has been given by the settled child.
Admission for dependant parents and grandparents aged less than 65 years in this category is more problematic. Persons falling into this category must demonstrate that they are ‘living alone in the most exceptional compassionate circumstances’ in order to qualify for entry. Isolation and social stigma as a result of separation from family, high crime rates in the home area, poor living conditions and the distress caused by separation from UK settled family are amongst factors which may cumulatively meet the test. Physical isolation is not a prerequisite.
Children over 18 and other Relatives
Other relatives wanting to join family in the UK have to get entry clearance, and have to show that they are related as claimed to someone settled here. It must also be shown that they have been financially dependent on this relative, that they can be supported and accommodated without recourse to public funds, and that they were living alone in the most exceptional compassionate circumstances without other close relatives to turn to.
These criteria apply only to sons and daughters over the age of 18, and to the sisters, brothers, uncles and aunts of people settled here who generally qualify only when they are over 65. It is very rare for anyone to qualify under this rule.
