How child relatives of refugees can apply to enter or remain in the UK

In this post, we will look at who is eligible to apply under Appendix Child Relative (Sponsors with Protection) of the immigration rules, what are the requirements, what leave is granted if successful and routes to settlement.

Appendix Child Relative (Sponsors with 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.

As ever, the Home Office guidance should be read ahead of preparing an application.

Who is it for?

In brief, this route is open to children that 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 Relative (Sponsors with Protection) to be treated as valid by the Home Office (to allow it to then be considered), a number of criteria need to be met.

Entry clearance applications must be made using the online form “Child of a close relative with protection status in the UK”. Applicants in the UK will need to apply by post using a paper form (FLR (P)). 

Applicants must pay the application fee and immigration health surcharge. The entry clearance fee is currently £424. For applications from inside the UK the fee, at time of writing, is £1,321. This requirement is the main painful distinction from refugee family reunion applications for spouses and children, which are free.

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. Fee waiver applications can be made online for entry clearance whereas applicants in the UK need to use a paper form.

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

Applicants also need to satisfactorily establish their identity and nationalityfor 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). 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). Sponsors who have already obtained settlement in the UK are not eligible sponsors under this route.

Another validity requirement is for applicants to be under 18 on the date of application. This can create complexities in some cases.

Firstly, fee waivers can create delays. For applicants in the UK, the date of application is the date that paper application is posted. On the other hand, for applicants outside the UK, the immigration rules do not mention fee waivers and so seem to mean that the date of application is the date the entry clearance online form is submitted. This is concerning, especially as fee waivers can take a while 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.

Applicants need to show:

• 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.

The sponsor must be a close relative of the applicant, which is defined as a 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. Sponsors are required to provide financial evidence that meets the requirements of Appendix FM-SE.

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.

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 while showing that access to public funds is required. For example, I have requested this in the past for 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

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 £3029 (at time of writing) and no fee waiver is available. This will result in children and young people being stuck with precarious immigration status, if unable to afford this fee.

To be eligible for settlement under this appendix, applicants must have or last had permission to stay under this route. Applicants will also 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 decisions are often 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.

This article was first published in October 2024 and has since been updated so it is correct as at the date above.

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