On 20 June 2022, a large number of changes were made to the Immigration Rules. Included in those changes is the introduction of two new routes to indefinite leave to remain (‘ILR’) on the basis of private life, which benefit children and young adults in the UK.

ILR for a child born in the United Kingdom

A child who was born in the UK may now apply for indefinite leave to remain where:

• • The child was born in the UK and can provide a full UK birth certificate.
  • The child has lived in the UK continuously since their birth and for at least seven years at the date of application.
  • It would not be reasonable to expect the applicant to leave the UK.

This rule closely mirrors provisions in the previous private life rules which allowed a child to apply for limited leave to remain in the UK if they have lived here for at least seven years and it would not be reasonable to expect them to leave the country. This ‘seven years rule’ also allowed the parents of such a child to make an application under the Parent route.

However, in light of these changes, the child can now apply for ILR at that stage if they were born in the UK.

Unfortunately, if the child was not born in the UK, then they will need to apply for limited leave to remain in the same way as before.

ILR for young adults in the United Kingdom

As we have covered in a previous blog in November 2021, the Home Office announced a concession to the private life rules to allow young adults aged between 18 and 25 years old who had spent more than half of their lives in the United Kingdom to apply for ILR after just five years.

The Home Office has now incorporated this concession into the Immigration Rules. Therefore, an applicant would be eligible for ILR where:

• • They were last granted leave to remain on the basis of their private life as a child or on the basis that they are aged between 18 and 25 years old and have spent more than half of their lives in the UK.
  • They have spent five years in the UK with leave to remain on the basis of private life, family life or outside of the Rules under Article 8. In limited circumstances, it can include time spent in the UK with different visas, so long as they had leave to remain on the basis of private life for at least one year before they apply.

This represents a far quicker route to ILR for young adults who, previously, had to wait 10 years until they were eligible.

If you would like more information or advice on how this may affect you or your children, we can help.  Please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com.