Indefinite Leave to Remain is a prize worth getting for many migrants to the UK. It means that immigration rules no longer govern that person. They can live permanently in the UK, claim public funds and apply for British Citizenship.
Indefinite Leave to Remain is also called 'settlement'. There are several ways to get settlement, usually by living legally in the UK for five or ten years. However, the rules are different to get settled status for children born in the UK to non-British parents.
Now the UK government has made it easier for children born in the UK to non-British or non-settled parents to get Indefinite Leave to Remain. The new rules start on 20 June 2022.
A child who was born in the UK can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain immediately after spending the first seven years of their life here. This applies even if they have never had any type of leave to remain. The law decided some time ago that it is unreasonable to expect a child to leave the UK who has lived here for seven years. This change to the rules builds on that principle.
The changes mean that children will not have to continually apply for extensions to limited leave to remain. On the other hand, the UK government never gives concessions like this freely. The child will still have to show that it would not be reasonable to expect them to leave the UK. This might be particularly difficult when both the parents have no legal immigration status in the UK.
Children born in the UK to non-British or non-settled parents can become British if a parent subsequently gets Indefinite Leave to Remain. And children born in the UK to a parent who already has Indefinite Leave to Remain is automatically British.
Find out more about immigration law concerning settled status for children born in the UK to non-British parents, by contacting us.
A Mackman Group collaboration - market research by Mackman Research | website design by Mackman
