UK Parent Visas
If your parents are getting on in years and living overseas you may want them to join you in the UK so you can make sure that they can get the care they need or so they can enjoy a relationship with their grandchildren.
If one or both of your parents are not British citizens, they may be subject to UK immigration controls and require a visa to move to the UK permanently.
Our Immigration Solicitors are frequently asked about Parent Visas. In this blog, we outline what you need to know about the Parent Visa, otherwise known as the Adult Dependent Relative Visa.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors
For immigration law advice call London-based OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi
The Parent Visa
Most parents of adult children who have come to live in the UK from overseas won't be able to come to join their children in the UK on a Work Visa, such as the Skilled Worker Visa or the Senior or Specialist Worker Visa. Nor can a parent permanently stay in the UK on a series of Visitor Visas.
If you are worried about how your parents are coping in their home country, especially if all your siblings have settled in the UK or elsewhere, then you may need to look at the Parent Visa as an option to bring your parents to the UK.
It is best to speak to Immigration Solicitors about a Parent Visa before your parents come to the UK on a series of Visitor Visas or before they overstay on a visa because you are so worried about them going back to their home country where they have no help or only limited support.
Immigration Solicitors will tell you that it is hard to get a Parent Visa or Adult Dependent Relative Visa but the application is a lot harder still if your parents have overstayed or there is a problem with their immigration record. That’s why early immigration advice from a specialist is the best solution.
Call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Parent Visa client review
This is what one client said about one of our specialist team members advising on Parent Visa applications:
‘’ I would like to thank Maryem Ahmed and OTS solicitors for excellent guidance and excellent result on a very difficult case for permission to stay in the UK for my elderly mother. Maryem advised me on the best application route and assisted with the preparation and checking of the documents, of which there were well over a hundred pieces. She gave me very sensible advice throughout the application and I am delighted with the positive result, which I know can be very hard to achieve’’.
Getting a Parent Visa
To secure an Adult Dependent Relative Visa for your parent you need to be over 18 and able to sponsor your parent’s visa application. The process is a bit like a British citizen or person with indefinite leave to remain sponsoring a visa applicant applying to come to the UK on a Family Visa, such as a Spouse Visa or Unmarried Partner Visa.
You need to be able to show 3 things:
- Your parent needs help with long-term care to do everyday personal and household tasks because of their illness, disability or age
- The care your parent needs is not available or affordable in the country they currently live in
- You can support, accommodate and care for your parent without claiming public funds for at least 5 years
Your parent’s care needs
It isn’t enough to say that your parent is nearly 80 and frail to get a Parent Visa. Whilst it may be obvious to you and your family that your mother or father would be better off living with you the Home Office will need convincing as they won't assume that just because someone is nearly 80, they cannot look after themselves.
It can be hard to think about how frailty is affecting your parent’s ability to look after themselves but you have to do that to make a successful application for an Adult Dependent Relative Visa. For example, your parent may no longer be able to cook for themselves or they may struggle to leave their home and have no one to purchase food for them, collect prescriptions or take them to doctor’s appointments.
There is often an assumption that if there is money available to pay for care then help can be sourced in the country your parent is living in. If that is not an option you need to explain why. Maybe it is because your parents currently live in a very remote area but could they move to a city or supported accommodation in their home country and have their needs met there? If moving within their country will not solve their care needs then why is that the case?
If you are arguing that the care your parent needs is available in their home country but not affordable then remember that you are also saying that you can afford to sponsor and support your parent. How are you able to afford to do that but not provide financial support to enable your parent to receive the support they need in their home country? There may be an easy answer to that question but often people forget that a Home Office official does not know their family circumstances and so won't know why care is not available or affordable in your parent’s home country.
Your Immigration Solicitors will want to get to the heart of why it is necessary for your parent to come to the UK on an Adult Dependent Relative Visa. The questions may feel intrusive but at OTS Solicitors we take the view that it is best to be thorough and ask all necessary questions so we can prepare a Parent Visa application that stands the best chance of a successful outcome. To us, that’s far better than an application that doesn’t contain enough detail and therefore gets refused by the Home Office.
Your circumstances
You may think your family circumstances are irrelevant as it is your parent who is applying for the Adult Dependent Relative Visa. However, the immigration rules say that as the sponsor of the visa applicant, you need to show that you can provide accommodation and support your parent for at least 5 years.
Immigration Solicitors say that whilst it may be self-obvious to everyone who knows you that you are more than able to financially support a parent and provide a home for them, a Home Office official does not know you. The only information they will have about you and your family is in the visa application and supporting paperwork. As Immigration Solicitors we do not make assumptions and nor will the Home Office official who is looking at your parent’s Adult Dependent Relative Visa application.
It is far easier to put the time and attention to detail in getting your parent’s Parent Visa application right when making the application than it is to try and bring an appeal against the refusal of an Adult Dependent Relative Visa by arguing that the refusal breached human rights.
Why Choose OTS Solicitors for your Parent Visa application?
Your parent may think it is best to use a local solicitor in their home country to apply for their Parent Visa or you may think your solicitor who handled your house purchase, Will or who acts for your company is the best choice to help.
All areas of immigration law are complicated. It is especially hard to get visas when the government is committed to reducing net UK migration. That’s why you need an immigration law specialist who understands UK immigration law and how the Home Office operates and has the expertise to know what works and doesn’t work when preparing a Parent Visa application.
At OTS Solicitors all our immigration specialists provide exceptional legal advice delivered with care, empathy and professionalism to get you and your family the best outcome possible.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors
For immigration law advice call London-based OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi
Related Posts
OTS Solicitors Celebrates its Inclusion in the 2024 Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession
UK Family and Immigration Solicitors
The UK Immigration Rules for Returning Residents with Indefinite Leave to Remain