Who is eligible for a Family Visa?

If you’re a non-EEA national and want to live and work in the UK for an extended period of time, you will need to make a UK Visa application. There are different types of visas available depending on your circumstance. A Family Visa is needed to join family members in the UK for a period longer than 6 months. If you’re living outside of the UK, you can apply to a Family Visa to join your spouse, fiancee, partner, child, parent or relative who will provide long-term care for you.

What are the UK Family Visa types?

If you are a non-EEA national and intend to stay in the UK for a period that exceeds 6 months, you will need to make a Family Visa application if you meeting one of the following requirements:

• Your family member/ spouse is a British citizen
• Your family member/ spouse has ILR or settled status
• You have an eligible relationship with an individual in the UK with refugee status or humanitarian protection

If you are currently living in the UK on a different visa, you may be able to switch to a family visa in order to stay with your child, fiancee or partner. There are many variations of a UK Family Visa, all of which depend on the relationship that you have with the UK settled person.

Below, you’ll find information on the different types of UK Family Visas that are available for no-EEA nationals.

Spouse Visa

Under the UK Family Visa, partners and spouses are eligible to remain in the UK for up to 2.5 years. After this time, you can apply for a further extension, which will take you to a total of 5 years remaining in the UK.

As you may know, you will become eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain if you have lived in the UK for more than five years.

In order to apply for a Family Visa as a partner or spouse, you will need to adhere to the following requirements:

• You and your partner must be over the age of 18 years old to qualify for a Family Visa
• You must be involved in a genuine relationship
• You must intend to live in the UK (for a minimum of 2.5 years)

If you apply for a UK Family Visa as a fiancee, then your time living in the UK on this visa will be limited to 6 months. During this time, you will have to marry your fiancee, or you may face the risk of being deported as you have failed to meet the visa requirements.

You will also be able to include dependent children in your spouse or fiancee visa application.

In order to be eligible for a fiancee or spouse visa, you will also need to meet the following financial requirements. As a single applicant, the minimal age threshold is set at £18,600 and with a child, this will increase by £3800. Any additional children after this will be set at an extra £2,400 each.

You will also need to meet one of the following language requirements in order to be eligible for a Family Visa in the UK:

• You will have to pass the approved language test
• You have a qualification from an English speaking course
• You are from a national or majority English speaking country to qualify for a Family Visa

These language requirements are exempt from individuals who have a mental or physical disability that prevents you from meeting this requirement or are 65 years or older when applying for a Family Visa.

Child Dependent Visa

Children who are non-EEA nationals can apply for a UK Family Visa either on their parent’s application or as a separate application. In order to qualify for a Family Visa, they must be under the age of 18 when the application was made. In addition to this, the child must also still be living and a dependent and can’t have formed an independent family unit.

In order to bring children to the UK to live, the parent or carer must also be financially eligible. Similarly to the spouse visa applications, the child will be eligible to apply for British Naturalisation after 5 years of residing in the UK after the Family Visa runs out.

Adult Dependent Visa

If you’re over the age of 18 and would like to live and work in the UK on a Family Visa, you may be eligible for an Adult Dependent Visa. This is reserved for individuals who want to enter the UK as a parent, grandparent or adult child of a British Citizen.

You can apply to live in the UK under an Adult Dependent Visa under exceptional circumstances. This Family Visa is reserved for those who are in need of long-term care, which can be provided by your relative in the UK.

Unlike the majority of Family Visa types, the Adult Dependent Visa allows you to remain in the UK indefinitely, as long as the UK relative is a British Citizen or has settled status in the UK. In addition to this, you are enabled to remain in the UK on this visa if your relative has refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK.

This visa is reserved for special circumstances and is quite difficult to obtain. In order to be accepted, you must satisfy the following:

• You must provide a large amount of evidence that you don’t have adequate care in your country of origin for an Adult Dependent Family Visa
• You must be over the age of 18
• You must be related to the individual who has British Citizenship or settled status in the UK

UK Ancestry Visa

A UK Ancestor Family Visa is a unique visa type. If your grandparents were born in the UK, you could be eligible for a five-year UK Ancestry Visa. This allows you to work, live and study in the UK and after the five years are up, you will be eligible to apply for settled status.

How can LPS help you apply for a Family Visa?

At LPS, we know that being close to family is important and obtaining a Family Visa can ensure that you don’t have to split up from your family. Our team of dedicated immigration lawyers can help you with applications for all types of Family Visas. We will work with you to assess your different options, check your dependent’s status and perform a thorough document check for you.

One of our lawyers will prepare a Letter of Representation, which will provide evidence of the merits of your application and supporting UK immigration laws, to be submitted with your Family Visa UK application.

Your lawyer will also liaise with the Home Office throughout your Family Visa application until a decision is reached and complete your application form using their experienced knowledge. This service will improve your chances of receiving a Family Visa.

What to do now?

We suggest that you contact our expert team for a free no-obligation consultation. There is nothing to lose! If you are busy, you can click here to arrange a callback time or alternatively, you can call 08009961807 and ask to speak to our family department experts.