In this post, we will look at who is eligible to apply under Appendix Child staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Protection), what the requirements are, what leave is granted if successful and routes to settlement.

Appendix Child staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Protection) is a relatively niche route for children to apply for permission to enter and stay the UK. Nonetheless, it is an important route to be aware of for those advising refugees and their family members. This route gives the option to children relatives of refugees to apply within the immigration rules, rather than relying on article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights for leave outside of the immigration rules.

This appendix has recently been subject to the latest statement of changes and I have highlighted where things will change on 8 November 2024. As ever, the Home Office guidance should also be read ahead of preparing an application.

Who is it for?

In brief, this route is open to children who are considered close relatives of refugees to enter, stay and settle in the UK.  Strangely enough, this route is considered by the Home Office as being distinct from refugee family reunion (which, under the immigration rules, is open to spouses and children of refugees).

This means that the requirements and practicalities (including fees) of these applications are different from family reunion applications. It also means that a separate Home Office decision making team assesses these applications.

Validity requirements

For an application under Appendix Child staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Protection) to be treated as valid by the Home Office (to allow it to then be considered), all these criteria need to be met:

Entry clearance applications must be made using the online form “Child of a non-parent relative with protection status in the UK but who has not yet obtained settlement or become a British Citizen”. Applicants in the UK will need to use the FLR (P) online form.

Applicants must pay the application fee and immigration health surcharge. The entry clearance fee is currently £404 and for applications from inside the UK the fee is £1,258. Applicants might be eligible to apply for a fee waiver for both entry clearance and leave to remain applications which, if successful, can apply to the fee and/or the health surcharge. This requirement is the main painful distinction from refugee family reunion applications for spouses and children, which are free.

Applicants need to provide biometric information as part of their application. If they are unable to travel to a visa centre for safety reasons, they might be able to request an exemption. However, in my experience, this is extremely difficult to obtain.

Following the statement of changes, applicants will also need to satisfactorily establish their identity and nationality for their application to be deemed valid. This can be tricky, especially when identity documents are not available. For instance, I have had cases where decision makers refused to accept DNA evidence as evidence of identity, even when no documents could feasibly be obtained (due, for instance, to conflict or displacement). The fact that this is now a validity requirement is concerning. This a hurdle to keep in mind when considering which route to apply under. 

The sponsor needs to have protection status in the UK. This is defined in the guidance as refugee leave and humanitarian protection and includes sponsors who were resettled through some resettlement programmes (including, for example, the gateway protection programmes, the UK resettlement scheme and pathway 2 of the Afghan resettlement scheme).

Following the statement of changes, an additional validity requirement will be for applicants to be under 18 on the date of application. I suspect this will become an issue in some cases. Firstly, in cases where a fee waiver is required, there will be a distinction between in-country and entry clearance applications. For applicants in the UK, the date of application will be the date that the fee waiver is submitted. On the other hand, for applicants outside the UK, the date of application will be the date the entry clearance online form is submitted. This is concerning, especially as fee waivers are months to be decided.

Secondly, this validity requirement applies to both entry clearance and leave to remain applications. This is worrying as there will be cases where applicants enter the UK as minors but will turn 18 and might not be able to apply for settlement under this appendix at the same time as their sponsor. This means that some applicants might be required to apply to extend their permission outside the rules or under some other route (e.g. asylum).

It is important to note that, if an application does not meet all these requirements, it will be rejected as invalid by the Home Office and will not be considered. If the validity requirements are met, then the Home Office will need to determine the application.

Suitability requirements

Applications will be refused where applicants meet the grounds for refusal set out in part 9 of the immigration rules.

Eligibility requirements

If the application is deemed valid and the applicant meets the suitability requirements, the Home Office will go on to consider eligibility requirements. Interestingly, the statement of changes means that what, in my view, was most difficult eligibility requirement (whereby an applicant needed to show that there are serious and compelling circumstances in their case) will be gone.

Nevertheless, there are still several requirements that applicants need to meet:

• that they are not leading an independent life. This can mean that applications may be refused where applicants have a partner or their own children; 
• that the sponsor has made suitable arrangement for their care and accommodation in the UK. This requirement is explained in this guidance;
• that they have no other family that could reasonably be expected to support them. Applications might be refused on the basis that the applicant could be looked after and supported by other relatives. Here it is important to obtain evidence (e.g. witness statements) to explain where other family members are and why they are unable to look after the applicant.

Relationship requirements

The applicant will need to show that they have an existing and genuine family relationship with the sponsor.  On this point, it is key to obtain supporting evidence of the relationship between the parties including, for instance, evidence of contact, witness statements and evidence of financial or other support;

Following the statement of changes, from 8 November 2024 the Home Office has defined the family relationship in these cases. The sponsor must be a close relative of the applicant, which is defined as grandparent, brother and sister, step-parent, uncle (brother or half-brother of a child’s parent) or aunt (sister or half-sister of a child’s parent). Proof of the family relationship will need to be provided for an application to succeed, whether by way of documents or obtaining DNA evidence.

Maintenance and accommodation requirements

While there is no minimum financial requirements to be met in these cases, sponsors will need to provide evidence that they can meet the adequate maintenance and accommodation requirements. Guidance on these can be found here. Interestingly, following the statement of changes, sponsors are now required to provide financial evidence that meets the requirements of Appendix FM-SE, making this requirement much more burdensome in terms of evidence that needs to be provided.

This is another significant requirement that sponsors do not have to meet under the refugee family reunion provisions, making this a more challenging route in most cases.

Article 8 considerations

Where an application does not meet the suitability or eligibility requirements, the Home Office will consider whether a grant of entry clearance/leave to remain might be necessary under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to family life). This will be limited to cases where, according to a decision maker, a refusal would result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their family.

In my experience, it is exceptionally rare for cases to succeed on these grounds at the initial stage and, broadly speaking, an appeal before the immigration tribunal is essentially always required to succeed under article 8.

Following the statement of changes, paragraph 6.2 makes it clear that in cases where the applicant falls for refusal on the more serious grounds in terms of suitability, the application will be refused, regardless of the article 8 assessment.

Grants of leave

If an application under Appendix Child staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Protection) is successful, the applicant will be granted leave in line with the sponsor, meaning that their permission will expire at the same time as the sponsor’s. Applicants will be granted leave without access to public unless it can be shown that the sponsor is destitute, the applicant is facing exceptional circumstances or access to public funds is required for the applicant’s welfare.

It is very important when preparing applications under this appendix to request access to public funds at time of application if required (providing financial or other supporting evidence to corroborate this). As there is no minimum income requirement, sponsors may still be able to meet the maintenance requirement whilst showing that access to public funds is required. For example, I have assisted sponsors who are care leavers and in receipt of local authority support as in these cases it is quite clear that applicants will need access to public funds once they reach the UK.

Settlement

The statement of changes brings some clarity about settlement options for applicants who are granted permission to enter and remain in the UK under Appendix Child staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Protection).

Once the sponsor has applied for or obtained settlement in the UK, applicants will be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain using form DL. The bad news is that this comes with the fee of £2,885 (at time of writing) and no fee waiver is available. This will result in children and young people being stuck with precarious immigration status, until they are able to afford this fee.

Applicants will need to show that they still meet all the suitability and eligibility requirements above. In addition to this, if over 18 at the time of application, applicants will need to satisfy both the English language requirement and pass the life in the UK test (unless the usual exemptions apply).

Conclusion

Appendix Child staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Protection) is a difficult route, with complex requirements and high costs involved. Criteria such as a child having no other family member who could reasonably look after them make these applications difficult to succeed.

In my experience, most applications will result in refusals, although this might improve in the future once the statement of changes is implemented. In any event, circumstances in these cases are usually compelling and, very often, decisions are overturned at appeal stage.

It is still unclear to me why the Home Office persists in having this route separate from refugee family reunion, which is free and fairly accessible. It is hoped that this might change at some point in the future, considering that sponsors in these cases have often faced and are still dealing with significant trauma and challenging circumstances.

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