What now for refugee family reunion applications?

Appendix Family Reunion (Sponsors with Protection) was closed to new applications on 4 September 2025. This does not mean that refugees can no longer bring their family members to the UK, but it does make it much more difficult. Below I take a look at some of the options and issues with refugee family applications going forward and I have linked to our relevant briefings on the various applications that can be made.

How can refugees bring their partner/spouse to the UK?

People with refugee leave who want to bring their spouse or partner to the UK must now apply under Appendix FM. We have a briefing on straightforward applications here, for those who can meet the minimum income requirement of £29,000 (we also have a separate briefing on the financial requirements in Appendix FM).

Not everyone is able to meet the financial requirements, where this is an issue, successful applications can still be made where it can be established that there are exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances is a high threshold and the Home Office will consider “whether refusal of the application would be disproportionate under Article 8 because it would result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their family”.

Applications relying on exceptional circumstances are often refused where the Home Office considers that the family can instead live in their country of origin. This reason cannot be relied on where the sponsor has refugee status based on an accepted risk of persecution in the country of origin, so it is likely to be much harder for the Home Office to refuse application based on exceptional circumstances where there is a refugee sponsor. One point which will need to be carefully considered is whether there is another country where it would be possible for the family to live in where the refugee sponsor would not face a risk of danger. 

How can refugees bring their children to the UK?

On the same day that new applications under Appendix Family Reunion were suspended, Appendix FM was amended so that children can apply to join a parent who holds protection status in the UK. This means that children who are either coming with a parent who is applying under Appendix FM at the same time, or coming by themselves to join a refugee parent already in the UK can now apply under Appendix FM. We have a briefing on making on these applications here.

There is an important difference with child applications in Appendix FM as opposed to Appendix Family Reunion, as set out in the explanatory memorandum to these rule changes:

5.5 The Appendix FM rules require the parent of a dependent child to have a sole responsibility where the child is not accompanying or joining both parents in the UK, which is different than the approach under Appendix Family Reunion. The policy intention is to ensure that where both parents have parental responsibility for a child, the child remains with the parents to ensure the UK is not brought into custody battles and a child is not brought to the UK against the wishes of the other parent. However, where an applicant is unable to demonstrate sole responsibility under Appendix FM, the child will still be granted permission if there are serious and compelling family circumstances that make exclusion of the child undesirable.

This is an important point which is why it has its own briefing, “Making sense of sole responsibility for child visas in immigration law“. 

How can refugees bring other child relatives to the UK?

There is a separate appendix to the immigration rules for refugee sponsors who are the close relative of a child they wish to bring to the UK. Close relative 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).

The relevant immigration rules are found in Appendix Child Relative (Sponsors with Protection) and we have a full briefing on the route here.

How can refugees bring other adult relatives to the UK?

Here, the applicable route is that set out in Appendix Adult Dependent Relative. Applicants must be 18 or over and either the parent, grandparent, child or sibling of the refugee sponsor in the UK who must also be aged 18 or over. These applications have a high refusal rate, but we have an excellent and detailed briefing from John Vassiliou, who has a strong record in making successful applications in this route. 

Other family members – leave outside the rules

Where none of the above routes apply, it may still be possible to make a successful application for leave outside the rules. For example, although the provisions for a parent to bring their child to the UK under Appendix FM were extended to sponsors with refugee status, the provisions for a child to bring their parent to the UK under Appendix FM were not (this was also the position under Appendix Family Reunion). Our briefing on complex refugee family reunion applications remains relevant and useful.

Entry clearance fee waivers

All of the above are paid applications, with varying levels of fees. However it is important to be aware that fee waivers are available for out of country human rights applications. We have a briefing on how to make these applications here. 

Immigration Advice Authority accreditation

An important point to note is the impact these changes have on those who are regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (formerly OISC). There are two separate areas of accreditation, depending on whether a person wishes to carry out immigration work or asylum work. To make an application under Appendix Family Reunion a person must have the level two qualification in asylum.

However, the changes to refugee family reunion have effectively moved this work out of the asylum category and into the immigration category, meaning that those working to support refugees with applications to bring their family over are all of a sudden no longer allowed to do this. Unless the Authority does anything to address this situation it will take months for people to switch their accreditation over, not least because the next assessment date is not until the end of November. This is likely to result in an advice gap and contribute to further family separation.

Conclusion

The closure of the refugee family reunion has been described as a “suspension” but given everything the government has said, including in the immigration white paper, it is difficult to envisage that Appendix Family Reunion (Sponsor with Protection) will be reopened in anything resembling its current form. I think it is instructive to remember that the Home Office also sought to move statelessness family reunion into Appendix FM at the beginning of last year, and so the trajectory is clear.

Next, we can expect to see a tightening of what is considered “exceptional circumstances” to make it more difficult again for all families to live together in the UK, both those of refugees and British citizens. The government has also indicated that they are looking at introducing a period of time that a person must hold refugee status before they can apply to bring their family members to join them in the UK. All that this will achieve is further, prolonged separation of families.