Table Of Contents
- What is the sole responsibility for child visas
- How to prove “Sole Responsibility” for Child Visas
- What evidence helps you prove sole parental responsibility for child visas
- Summary
A person can apply for a visa as:
• the child of a person who holds, or is being granted, leave to enter or remain as a partner or parent under the Immigration Rules – Appendix FM;
• the child of a person with protection status in the UK under the Immigration Rules – Appendix FM;
• the child of a parent (s) or close relative who is already present and settled in the UK, or being admitted to the UK for settlement;
• As a dependent child of a person under a UK work visa, UK business visa, study visa, BN(O) visa, private life route, protection status, armed forces or other immigration route where dependants are permitted to come to join or stay in the UK and the Immigration Rules – Appendix Children applies
• a child who has already been adopted overseas or is coming to the UK to be adopted under the Immigration Rules – Appendix Adoption
These are commonly known as child visa routes.
When applying as a child, the correct UK route depends first on their parent’s, sponsor’s or relative’s immigration status, and secondly on whether the child is applying for entry clearance from outside the UK, permission to stay from within the UK, or for settlement.
What is the sole responsibility for child visas?
Where the parents of a child are not married, or parents’ marriage subsists (means that the parents are still legally married) but they do not live together, or where the parents’ marriage has been dissolved or legally ended, usually through divorce, a child may qualify to join or stay in the UK with one parent, provided that parent has had sole parental responsibility for the child’s upbringing.
In an ordinary family unit, the two parents (although not necessarily equally) share responsibility for a child’s upbringing. However, where we use the phrase “sole responsibility”, it reflects a situation where a child’s parental responsibility, to all intents and purposes, rests mainly with one parent.
How to prove “Sole Responsibility” for Child Visas?
If you want to claim to have had “sole responsibility” as a parent for a child, you must satisfactorily show that you have, generally for a substantial period of time, been the chief person exercising the child’s parental responsibility. For such an assertion to be accepted by the immigration officers, you must show that you have had, and still have, the ultimate responsibility for the major decisions of the child’s upbringing, and provide the child with most of the financial and emotional support they require. You must also show that you have had and continue to have the child’s care and control.
For example: A non-British child born to parents where one parent is a British citizen and the other parent is a foreign national, and both parents are living abroad. The couple then separates, and the British citizen parent wants to return to the UK to live with the child. The UK parent has the child’s primary responsibility, and the foreign-national parent does not object to the child living in the UK. In such a case, officers could consider the UK parent to have the child’s sole responsibility.
In assessing whether you have had sole parental responsibility for your child, the caseworker must consider the following:
1. Where the child and you (the parent claiming sole responsibility) are separated
Where you (the parent claiming sole responsibility) and your child are separated, your child’s physical day-to-day care must be entrusted to others, and it is expected that where relatives are looking after the child, they should be your relatives rather than those of the child’s other parent. In such a case, you must still be able to show that you have retained ultimate responsibility for the upbringing of your child and provide the majority of the financial and emotional support needed.
If you (the parent claiming sole responsibility) have established that your child is being cared for by your relatives but it is the other parent who has applied for the child to join them in this country (or vice versa), the application will normally be refused.
2. Where it is not clear which parent of the child has established “sole responsibility”
Cases may arise where even though the other parent of your child has effectively taken no share of the child’s responsibility, or so small a share that it can effectively be disregarded, you cannot claim to have had “sole responsibility”.
This may be the case where more than the control and day-to-day care of a child has been transferred to another person due, perhaps, to the sponsoring parent being in the United Kingdom and not maintaining a close involvement in the child’s upbringing etc.
There are several factors which are usually taken into account when deciding whether you have established that you have had the “sole responsibility” for your child to the exclusion of the child’s other parent or those who may have been looking after your child. These may include:
• the period for which you (the parent in the United Kingdom) have been separated from your child;
• what the arrangements were for your child’s care before you migrated to this country;
• who has been entrusted with your child’s day-to-day care and control since you (the sponsoring parent) migrated to this country;
• who provides (you or the other parent), and in what proportion, the financial support for the care and upbringing of your child;
• who (you or the other parent) takes the important decisions about the child’s upbringing, such as where and with whom (you or the other parent) your child lives, the choice of school they go to, religious practice etc;
• the degree of contact that you have maintained between you (the parent claiming “sole responsibility”) and your child;
• what part the parent not in the United Kingdom and their relatives have played in the child’s care and upbringing.
What evidence helps you prove sole parental responsibility for child visas?
The necessary evidence that needs to be included to demonstrate you have your child’s sole responsibility largely depends on the particular facts of your case. Common examples of evidence you can provide include:
• Court documents showing the child for whom you are claiming “sole responsibility” lives with you or that you are taking an active role in their upbringing;
• The medical records of your child such as a letter from their doctor/dentist/or health visitor confirming that you take them to appointments;
• School reports of your child such as a letter from the school of your child which confirms that you take them to school or go to parent evenings;
• Bank statements to demonstrate that you have the child’s financial responsibility;
• Letters of support from friends and family;
• Records of your communications (such as WhatsApp messages, text/SMS messages, emails, letters, phone call records, video calls, other messages) with your child or with anyone responsible for looking after your child, such as a grandparent or babysitter;
• Photographs of time spent with your child.
Summary
The sole responsibility requirement for child visas is a fact-sensitive immigration-law test. A custody order or evidence of financial support can be helpful, but neither automatically guarantees that the Home Office will find that you have “sole responsibility.”
The more the evidence demonstrates you have the actual decision-making and responsibility, rather than just financial support or contact with the child, the stronger the argument for your claim for sole responsibility.
Read Similar Blogs
What Happens if Your Relationship Breaks Down During a UK Spouse Visa