Adopted Child Visa - De Facto Adoption

: Written by: Arshad Mahmood; Last Updated: 15 April 2026

The De facto Adoption visa route is for a child to apply for entry clearance where the child has been living with their adoptive parent(s) overseas for at least 12 months and there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility.

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Requirements for De Facto Adoption Visa Route

A child applying for entry clearance where the adoption has taken place under the de facto adoption must satisfy the following requirements of Appendix Adoption of the Immigration Rules:

Valid Application

A child applying for entry clearance on the Adoption: de facto route must submit a valid entry clearance application in accordance with the requirements set out in Appendix Adoption of the Immigration Rules. An application which does not meet all the validity requirements of the Adoption: de facto route may be rejected as invalid and not considered.

Suitability Requirements

The applicant must not fall for refusal under Part Suitability of the Appendix Suitability of the Immigration Rules.

Adoption requirements for the Adoption: De Facto route

At the date of application, the adoptive parents must both have:

been resident together overseas for at least 18 months; and
lived with the applicant for the 12 months immediately before the date of application; and
assumed the role of the applicant’s parent(s) since the beginning of the 18- month period, so that there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility.

Where the adoptive parent has sole responsibility, at the date of application, they must have:

been resident overseas for at least 18 months; and
lived with the applicant for the 12 months immediately before the date of application; and
assumed the role of the applicant’s parent since the beginning of the 18-month period, so that there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility.

The applicant must provide evidence that:

the de facto adoption is not one of convenience arranged to facilitate the applicant’s admission to the UK; and
they will have the same rights and obligations as any other child of the de facto adoptive parent(s)’s family; and
the birth parent(s) or those looking after the applicant immediately before they were physically transferred to the care of their de facto adoptive parent(s) are unable to care for the applicant; and
the applicant has broken or lost ties with their biological family.

Dependent child requirements for the Adoption: De Facto route

The applicant must meet the following requirements for a dependent child in Appendix Children:

age requirement; and
independent life requirement; and
care requirement.

Immigration Status Requirements of Parents

The applicant must be accompanying their adoptive parent(s), and one of the following must apply:

both adoptive parents are British Citizens, are settled in the UK, or have a right to stay in the UK without restriction or are being admitted to the UK for settlement; or
the adoptive parent has sole responsibility for the applicant and is a British Citizen, is settled in the UK, or has a right to stay in the UK without restriction, or is being admitted to the UK for settlement; or
one adoptive parent is a British Citizen, or is settled in the UK, or has a right to stay in the UK without restriction, or is being admitted to the UK for settlement and the other adoptive parent has or is being given permission to come to the UK on a route to settlement; or
one adoptive parent is a British Citizen, or is settled in the UK, or has a right to stay in the UK without restriction, or is being admitted to the UK for settlement, and the decision maker is satisfied there are serious and compelling reasons to grant the applicant entry clearance.

Financial requirements for the Adoption: De Facto route

The applicant must show that they will be adequately maintained in the UK by the adoptive parent(s) without access to public funds, unless, where an adoptive parent of the applicant has, or is applying for, permission on a route to settlement, the applicant must meet the financial requirement as a dependent child under that route.

The applicant must provide evidence from the adoptive parent(s) of income or cash savings sufficient to show the financial requirement is met, and:

evidence from income (other than self-employment) or savings must cover the 6-month period immediately before the date of application; or
where the sponsor is receiving maternity, paternity, adoption or sick pay, their income from salaried employment can be shown for either the 6 months immediately before the date of application or the start date of the maternity, paternity, adoption or sick leave; or
where the income is from self-employment, it must be shown for the last full financial year before the date of application, with additional evidence of ongoing self-employment as in paragraphs 7 or 9 (as relevant) of Appendix FM-SE; or
where there is non-employment income, it must be shown to have been received in the 12 months before the date of application, except where specified in paragraph 10 of Appendix FM-SE; or
where property has been sold, and the money received has been converted into cash savings, the requirements in paragraph 11A(d) of Appendix FM-SE must be met.
The applicant must show they meet the financial requirement as set out in Appendix FM-SE.

Accommodation Requirement

The applicant’s accommodation in the UK must not be overcrowded or contravene public health regulations.

Tuberculosis (TB) Test Requirements

A child applying for entry clearance on the Adoption: De Facto route must, if Appendix Tuberculosis applies, provide a valid medical certificate confirming they have undergone screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis and that this tuberculosis is not present in them.

Eligibility under Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention for the Adoption: De Facto route

If the applicant meets the requirements for Adoption but does not meet the suitability or other eligibility requirements (subject to AD 33.2.), the decision maker must be satisfied that refusal of the application would breach Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention, because it would result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their adoptive family.
Where AD 33.1. applies and the applicant falls for refusal under SUI 2.1, SUI 2.3, SUI 3.1, SUI 4.1, and SUI 5.1. of Part Suitability, the application on the Adoption: De Facto route, must be refused.

Period and Conditions of the Grant

The applicant will be granted settlement if either:

both adoptive parents are British citizens, settled or have a right to stay in the UK without restriction; or
in the case of sole parental responsibility, the adoptive parent is a British Citizen, settled or has a right to stay in the UK without restriction.

In all other cases, the applicant will be granted permission, which ends on the same date as the permission granted to their de facto adoptive parent.

The grant of entry clearance will be subject to the following conditions:

work is permitted; and
study is permitted; and
no access to public funds.

How Can We Help?

Our specialist team of child visa solicitors can provide expert immigration advice and legal representation on a fixed fee basis in relation to your entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child. Our fixed fee for your entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child will cover all the work of our child visa solicitors on your entry clearance application until a decision is made by the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) on your application. The casework to be carried out by our child visa solicitors in relation to your entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child will entail the following:

Advice on requirements: Our child visa solicitors will advise you on the relevant requirements you have to meet for your entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child to succeed.

Advice on documents: Our child visa solicitors will prepare and email you a comprehensive list of supporting documents to be submitted in support of your entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child.

Assessment of documents: Our child visa solicitors will assess your documents to make sure that all the documents you provide in support of your entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child are in accordance with the requirements of the Immigration Rules.

Completing the application form: Our child visa solicitors will complete the relevant application form for your Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) entry clearance as a de facto adopted child.

Submitting application via Priority Service: Where possible, our child visa solicitors will submit your online entry clearance application through Priority Service to obtain a faster decision on your Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child.

Booking an appointment with the application centre: After you submit your entry clearance application online, our child visa solicitors will book your appointment with the application centre to enrol your biometrics.

Preparing a detailed cover letter: Our specialist child visa solicitors will prepare a detailed cover letter in support of the entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as an adopted child, explaining that all relevant legal requirements have been satisfied.

Uploading documents online: Before the biometrics enrolment date, our child visa solicitors will upload all supporting documents online to support the entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child.

Follow-up work: Our child visa solicitors will carry out all the follow-up work until the decision by the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) on the entry clearance application for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) as a de facto adopted child.

Specialist Immigration Solicitors for Adopted Children

Our child visa solicitors are specialists in adopted child visa applications. As one of the best child visa solicitors, we have an excellent track record of helping clients obtain a de facto adopted child visa. Our highly experienced and fully qualified child visa solicitors can provide fast, friendly, reliable, and fixed-fee immigration advice and legal representation for your child's UK visa as a de facto adopted child.

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