Rule changes from 11 November to affect family members of stateless people

Until 10 November 2025, family members of sponsors who hold leave as a stateless person can continue to apply for family reunion under archived part 14 of the immigration rules. In particular, this route is available to family members whose family relationship with their sponsor was formed after the sponsor’s grant of stateless leave. This route has no English language requirement, no maintenance, accommodation or other requirements; the family relationship is enough, regardless of when it was formed.

When the new rules come into force on 11 November 2025, further to the statement of changes HC 1333, family members are only eligible to join their stateless sponsor under Appendix Statelessness where the family relationship was formed before the sponsor’s first grant of statelessness leave. Where the family relationship was formed after the first grant of statelessness leave, family members must apply under Appendix FM.

There is, therefore, a short window in which the family members of stateless sponsors whose family relationship was formed after the initial grant of stateless leave can apply for family reunion under part 14 of the rules. If this window is missed, those family members would need to apply under Appendix FM.

Background

The rules for stateless persons and their family members were found in part 14 of the immigration rules until January 2024 when part 14 was replaced by Appendix Statelessness. Appendix Statelessness removed family reunion rights for family members of stateless sponsors, instead directing them to apply under Appendix FM.

Asylum Aid successfully challenged this change in February 2025 and the new rules on family reunion were deemed unlawful.

In response, the Home Office agreed to continue processing applications for stateless family reunion under part 14 of the immigration rules, despite the fact that this section of the rules had been archived.

The transitional provision in Appendix Statelessness states:

A partner or child of a stateless person can apply to stay in the UK under Part 14: Stateless Person on or after the 31 January 2024 if they have or last had permission as a partner or child under Part 14: Stateless Person. A child born in the UK to a parent who has either permission to enter or stay as a stateless person or is the partner of a stateless person can also apply for permission to stay under Part 14. For those eligible to apply under Part 14 as a partner or child of a stateless person, the Part 14 rules in place on the 30 January 2024 will apply. In any other case, a partner or child of a stateless person (who is not themselves stateless and therefore applying in their own right) can apply to join or remain with a Stateless person in the UK under Appendix FM.

There was (and still is) no clear process for applying under the archived rules and public information was unclear, incorrect and contradictory. However, this regime has continued since and it is still possible to apply under part 14 until the incoming rules take effect on 11 November 2025.

After 11 November, the rules in Appendix Statelessness will be the only statelessness family reunion rules going forward, apart from those who have already been granted family reunion leave under part 14.

Changes

Further to the most recent statement of changes, the following change will be made to archived part 14 of the rules on 11 November:

14.1. For paragraph 417 substitute: “417. Applications made on or before 10 November 2025 for permission as a partner or child of a stateless person will be decided under the Part 14 rules in force at that time. Applications on or after 11 November 2025 will be decided under Appendix Statelessness rules, if the applicant meets its requirements. If not, the applicant must apply for permission under Appendix FM”.

As we have already noted, the rules in part 14 allow for a partner or child to apply for family reunion irrespective of when the family relationship with their sponsor was formed. The new rules under Appendix Statelessness only allow for family members whose relationship pre-dated the sponsor’s grant of statelessness leave to apply.

Applications made under part 14 of the immigration rules don’t result in a grant of leave in line with the sponsor; the family member must complete their own five year period of residence before becoming eligible for settlement. Applicants who are granted under the new rules will be granted leave in line with the sponsor.

Part 14 of the immigration rules also does not allow a stateless person who has settled or naturalised as British to sponsor their family members, whereas the new rules coming into force will allow sponsors who have settled or naturalised as British to sponsor their family members provided that the family relationship existed before the sponsor’s initial grant of statelessness leave.

Drafting errors in new rules

It is also worth noting that there are drafting errors in the new rules. The Home Office is aware of these errors but they will not be corrected until the next statement of changes to the rules. When the caseworker guidance on ‘Permission to stay as a stateless person’ is next updated, it should explain the correct eligibility criteria.

The first error is that the rules have ‘and’ instead of ‘or’ at paragraph S 11.3 (b)(ii), which has the effect of excluding a person with five years’ leave to remain from sponsoring their family. 

S 11.3. An application as a partner or child of a Stateless person under Appendix Statelessness must meet the following validity requirements:

(a) the applicant must have provided biometrics when required; and

(b) the applicant must be applying as a partner or child of a person (P) on the statelessness route who:

(i) has made a valid application for permission to stay in the UK on the Appendix Statelessness route that has not been decided; or

(ii) has permission to stay in the UK on the statelessness route; and

(iii) is settled or has become a British Citizen, providing P had permission to stay on the statelessness route when they settled and the applicant either had permission as their partner or child at that time, or the applicant is applying as a child of P and the applicant was born in the UK before P settled. 

The second error is in the second definition of an eligible partner which fails to mirror paragraph S 11.3 (b)(iii) (above) so has the effect of excluding settled or British sponsors:

S 14.2. The applicant must be the partner of a Person (P) where one of the following applies:

(a) P has permission to stay as a Stateless person; or

(b) P is, at the same time, applying for (and is granted) permission to stay as a Stateless person;

S 14.3. The applicant must meet the requirements of Appendix Relationship with Partner of these Rules. 

Conclusion

Anyone applying for family reunion under part 14 of the immigration rules should make sure that they state extremely clearly that they are applying under those rules in all the free text boxes in the application form and in a letter of representations, as otherwise their application may be be lumped into the new rules. 

This article was co-authored by Judith Carter, lecturer and solicitor at Liverpool Law Clinic.