Citizenship Areas
Support for children joining or remaining with a parent under the family route, with advice tailored to the child’s circumstances and existing rights.
We assess the parent’s citizenship or permission and the relevant family route before choosing the child’s application.
Age, existing permission, dependency and care arrangements affect eligibility. Some applicants over eighteen may qualify where their dependant permission began before adulthood.
This page covers family-route child applications. Children accompanying a parent on a work or study visa must be assessed under that route’s dependant rules instead.
We also consider whether the child already has citizenship rights, qualifies for settlement or falls within another relevant application route.
We assess the child’s position alongside the parent’s application or existing status, then help coordinate the appropriate family applications.
Assess the child’s age, nationality, birth circumstances, existing permission and the parents’ immigration history.
Advise on relevant supporting information and review parental responsibility, care and any exceptional circumstances.
Assist with the appropriate application and required identity process, coordinating related family cases where suitable.
Review the grant, conditions and expiry date alongside the parent’s permission and future applications.
The appropriate form and application location depend on the child’s circumstances and the parent’s route. We assist with overseas applications and eligible in-country applications, including further leave where appropriate.
We assess the applicable costs, any fee-waiver option and available application services as part of the case review.
We review both parents’ circumstances, where the child lives and who is responsible for their upbringing. Sole responsibility and serious or compelling family circumstances require careful assessment where relevant.
A family relationship alone does not establish eligibility. We assess the applicable route and the child’s individual situation together.
Birth in the UK does not automatically make every child British. We assess the parents’ status at birth, later changes and any nationality or immigration application needed.
We assess nationality, existing permission and the appropriate route to join the family. A parent’s status does not automatically confer a visa on a child.
We review earlier grants and the relevant family history before advising on the next application. A parent obtaining a new visa or settlement does not automatically update the child’s immigration record.
EU Settlement Scheme eligibility, protection-related applications and adoption cases may require a separate route assessment rather than an ordinary family dependant application.
We assist with eligible extensions and review the child’s permission alongside the parent’s pathway. Turning eighteen does not always end eligibility, but the earlier grant and continuing circumstances need to be assessed.
We can advise where care arrangements, a parent’s status or the child’s living circumstances change. A different application may be needed rather than a routine extension.
We also review the conditions of the child’s grant and any implications for travel while an application is pending.
A child may be eligible for settlement with a parent or through a separate application, depending on the route and circumstances. There is no single qualifying period that applies to every child.
We assess the appropriate settlement application, including SET(F) where relevant, and whether an application must be made separately from the parent’s case.
Some children are British from birth; others may qualify for registration after a parent settles or under another provision. Settlement and citizenship are distinct, and neither should be assumed from the other.
We review the child’s birth and family history before advising on the appropriate immigration or nationality application.