You can apply for a parent of a child visa entry clearance from outside the UK if you are the parent of a qualifying child and are not the partner of the other parent. An application for entry clearance as a parent of a child is made in accordance with the requirements as set out in Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules. For an entry clearance application as a parent of a qualifying child, the Immigration Rules require that the qualifying child must be in the UK at the time of the entry clearance application. In exceptional circumstances, an application for entry clearance as a parent of a child can also be made if the British child is not in the UK, and such an application may succeed based on the best interests of the British child as envisaged under Section 55 of the BCIA 2009 and Article 8 of the ECHR.
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Free Immigration Advice for the Parent of a British Child Visa UK Entry Clearance
Our specialist team of family visa solicitors can provide one-off 5-minute free immigration advice in relation to your entry clearance application for a parent of a British child visa from outside the UK. Ask a question online to our specialist team of family visa solicitors for free immigration advice online, or book an appointment online for detailed immigration advice and consultation with one of our family visa solicitors concerning your application for a UK visa as a parent of a child.
Specialist Solicitors for the Parent of a British Child Visa
Our family visa solicitors are specialists in the entry clearance applications for the parents of British children from outside the UK. As one of the best family visa solicitors, we have successfully helped thousands of clients with their entry clearance applications for the parents of British children. Our highly experienced and fully qualified family visa solicitors can provide fast, friendly, reliable, and fixed-fee immigration advice and legal representation for your entry clearance application as the parent of a British child from outside the UK.
Meet Our Team of Family Visa Solicitors in London
At Premium Solicitors, our strength lies in the expertise, dedication, and unwavering commitment of our family visa solicitors in London. We understand that immigration matters are life-changing, and our team is here to guide you through every step of the parent-of-a-child visa process with professionalism and care.
Our team comprises a diverse group of family visa solicitors with a wealth of experience and knowledge. We are united by a shared goal: to deliver the highest level of legal support and advocacy tailored to your immigration needs.
Arshad Mahmood
Specialist UK Immigration Solicitor
Tushita Scalzullo
Specialist UK Immigration Solicitor
Nargis Khodadady
Specialist UK Immigration Solicitor
Asad Malik
Specialist UK Immigration Solicitor
Alina Rizvi
Specialist UK Immigration Solicitor
Victoria Gbenoba
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How To Apply for Parent of a British Child Visa Entry Clearance?
The step-by-step process to apply for the parent of a British child visa from outside the UK is as follows:
- Complete the online application form for a UK parent of a British child visa on the UKVI website.
- Submit your completed application form for a UK parent of a British child visa online by paying the application fee. You also have to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) for the parent of a child visa entry clearance application.
- Book an appointment with the UK visa application centre for the enrolment of your biometrics and to hand over your passport for processing your visa for a British child.
- Before you attend your biometrics enrolment appointment, upload all supporting documents online in PDF format to be considered in support of the application.
- Attend your biometrics enrolment appointment and wait for a decision on your parent of a British child visa entry clearance application. If you apply through Priority Service, the decision will be made within 30 working days; if you apply through standard service, within 60 working days.
What Are the Requirements for The Parent of a British Child Visa Entry Clearance?
According to Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules, the following requirements should be met by a person making an application for entry clearance as a parent of a qualifying child:
Valid application: The applicant must have made a valid application for entry clearance as a parent.
Requirements relating to the applicant: The applicant applying for entry clearance as a parent of a child:
- must be the parent of the qualifying child;
- must be resident outside the UK at the time of entry clearance application;
- must be aged 18 or over at the time of entry clearance application;
- must meet the suitability requirements as set out in Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules;
- must meet the financial requirement to maintain and accommodate himself/herself without any recourse to public funds;
- must meet have either sole responsibility for the child or direct access (in person) to the child, as agreed with the parent or carer with whom the child normally lives or as ordered by a court in the UK; and
- must provide evidence that he/she is taking, and intends to continue to take, an active role in the child’s upbringing.
- must meet the English language requirement to show that the applicant has English proficiency at CEFR level A1 as required by the UK Immigration Rules;
- must provide a Tuberculosis test certificate, where this is required under Appendix Tuberculosis (TB) of the Immigration Rules.
Requirements relating to the child: The applicant's child must be:
- under the age of 18 at the time of entry clearance application;
- resident in the UK at the time of entry clearance application;
- either a British Citizen or have ILR / settled status or an EU national child with pre-settled status;
Requirements relating to the other parent or carer of the child: If you share parental responsibility with the other parent of the child, the other parent of the child:
- must not be the applicant's partner;
- must be British or Irish Citizens or have settled status / ILR or be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status. They must have started living in the UK before 1 January 2021.
What is an Adequate Maintenance Requirement?
To succeed in his/her entry clearance application for a parent of a British child visa in the UK, the applicant must meet the financial requirement of adequate maintenance.
The Home Office UKVI will use the following formula to determine whether you meet the adequate maintenance requirement for your parent of a British child visa entry clearance application:
A – B ≥ C (A minus B is greater than or equal to C)
Where:
A is the net income (after deduction of income tax and National Insurance contributions);
B is housing costs (Rent and Council Tax); and
C is the amount of Income Support an equivalent British family of that size can receive.
The applicant must provide evidence that he/she will be able to adequately maintain and accommodate himself/herself and any dependants in the UK without recourse to public funds
What is an Adequate Accommodation Requirement?
The applicant must provide specified evidence that there will be adequate accommodation, without recourse to public funds, for the family, including other family members who are not included in the application but who live in the same household, which the family owns or occupies exclusively: accommodation will not be regarded as adequate if-
- it is, or will be, overcrowded; or
- it contravenes public health regulations.
What is the English Language Requirement for The Parent of a British Child Visa?
The applicant must provide specified evidence that he/she:
- is a national of a majority English-speaking country; or
- has passed an English language test in speaking and listening at a minimum of level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages with a provider approved by the Home Office, UKVI; or
- has an academic qualification recognised by UK Ecctis to be equivalent to the standard of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or PhD in the UK, which was taught in English; or
- is exempt from the English language requirement because at the date of application:
- the applicant is aged 65 or over;
- the applicant has a disability (physical or mental condition) which prevents the applicant from meeting the requirement; or
- there are exceptional circumstances which prevent the applicant from being able to meet the requirements prior to entry to the UK.
Appeal Against the Refusal of an Entry Clearance Application as a Parent of a British Child
If your parent of a British child visa entry clearance has been refused and you believe that the reasons for refusal are unjustified and not in accordance with relevant laws and facts, you can file an appeal to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) within 28 days of the refusal decision. Our specialist team of immigration appeal lawyers can represent you in an entry clearance appeal against the refusal of your application as a parent of a British child.
How Can We Help You?
Our specialist team of family visa solicitors can provide expert immigration advice and legal representation on a fixed-fee basis for your entry clearance application as the parent of a British child. Our fixed fee for your parent of a child visa UK entry clearance application covers all the work of our family visa solicitors until the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) issues a decision. The casework to be carried out by our family visa solicitors in relation to your entry clearance application for the parent of a child visa UK will entail the following:
Advice on requirements: Our family visa solicitors will advise you on the requirements you need to meet for your entry clearance application to succeed.
Advice on documents: Our family visa solicitors will prepare and email you a comprehensive list of supporting documents for your entry clearance application as a parent of a British child.
Assessment of documents: Our family visa solicitors will assess your documents to ensure that all those you provide in support of your entry clearance application as the parent of a British child comply with the Immigration Rules.
Completing the application form: Our family visa solicitors will complete the relevant application form for your entry clearance application as the parent of a British child.
Submitting an application through Priority Service: Where possible, our family visa solicitors will submit your online entry clearance application through priority service to obtain a faster decision on your application as the parent of a British child
Booking an appointment with the application centre: After you submit your entry clearance application online, our family visa solicitors will book your appointment with the application centre for you to enrol your biometrics.
Preparing a detailed cover letter: Our specialist family visa solicitors will prepare a detailed cover letter in support of the entry clearance application to explain that all relevant legal requirements have been satisfied for the approval of the parent of a child visa UK.
Uploading documents online: Before the biometrics enrolment date, our family visa solicitors will upload all supporting documents online to support the entry clearance application for the parent of a child visa UK.
Follow-up work: Our family visa solicitors will handle all follow-up until the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) makes a decision on the entry clearance application for the parent of a child visa in the UK.
Why Choose Us for the Parent of a British Child Visa Entry Clearance Application?
There are several reasons you can choose our family visa solicitors and lawyers in London to handle your parent-of-a-British-child visa entry clearance application. The main reasons include the following:
High-Quality Legal Services: Our team of the best family visa solicitors in London provides high-quality legal services for parents seeking a child visa entry clearance. The high quality of UK visa and immigration legal services provided by our best team of immigration lawyers is self-evident from the 5-star Google Reviews rating by 99% of our clients.
Remote Legal Services: Our specialist family visa solicitors and lawyers can provide you with expert advice and representation for a parent of a British child visa, remotely from our London offices. Using modern technology, our specialist family visa solicitors and lawyers can handle your parent of a British child visa entry clearance application remotely, without you needing to visit our offices. Whilst we are more than happy to welcome clients into our offices, if this is their preference, we are proud to offer our legal services for a parent of a child visa entry clearance application remotely, saving you time and travel costs.
Open 7 Days A Week: We pride ourselves on providing dedicated parent-of-a-child visa advice and legal representation 7 days a week.
All Work Carried Out By Qualified Specialist Immigration Solicitors: All the casework on your parent of a child visa entry clearance application will be carried out by our specialist team of fully qualified and experienced family visa solicitors who have extensive experience in dealing with the parent of a child visa entry clearance applications.
Fast Track Visa Service: Our experienced and qualified family visa solicitors can prepare and submit your entry clearance application as the parent of a British child in the shortest possible time using the fast-track process. Where possible, our family visa solicitors will submit your entry clearance application through the Priority Visa Service to obtain a faster decision.
Free Immigration Advice Online: Our specialist team of family visa solicitors and lawyers can provide one-off free immigration advice online through our website enquiry form.
Fixed Fees With Payment Plan: Our family visa solicitors and lawyers charge reasonable and affordable fixed fees for parent of a child visa entry clearance application with an option to pay our fixed fee in two instalments whereby you pay half of the agreed fixed fee when we start our work on your parent of a child visa entry clearance application and the remaining half when we have fully prepared the parent of a child visa entry clearance application and it is ready for submission to the Home Office UKVI.
How Much Does a Parent of a British Child Visa UK Cost?
The costs associated with your entry clearance application when applying from outside the UK are outlined below:
Our Fixed Fees for Your Entry Clearance Application
Our fixed fee for your entry clearance application ranges from £1,000 to £1,500 (VAT not applicable). Our fixed fee will cover all our work on your application including advising on documents, checking your documents, completing the application form and submitting the application online, booking an appointment for biometrics enrolment, preparing a cover letter in support of the application, uploading all supporting documents to be considered in support of the application, and carrying out all other follow up work until decision by the Home Office UKVI on your application.
Our agreed fixed fee will depend on the complexity of your case and the volume of work involved in your application. You will make an initial payment of half our fee when we start working on your matter, and the remaining half is due once we have fully prepared the application and it is ready for submission.
Unable to afford the cost of the full service? You have the option to book an appointment online for our one-off immigration advice and consultation service for a fixed fee of £100 (VAT not applicable) or our immigration document checking service for a fixed fee of £300 (VAT not applicable).
UKVI Fees for Your Entry Clearance Application
In addition to our fixed fee for assisting you with your entry clearance application, you must also pay the Home Office UKVI fees for your UK visa. The UKVI fee for your UK visa entry clearance application is £2,064, and an additional charge of £3,105 for the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). Therefore, the total amount payable to the UKVI for the entry clearance application is £5,169.
Additionally, you can pay a £500 Priority Service fee to get a decision on your application within 30 working days.
Get a Fixed Fee Quote for Your Immigration Matter
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Ready to get started? Use the link below to request a fixed-fee quote tailored to your needs.
How to Engage Us for Your Immigration Matter?
You can instruct immigration solicitors in London at Premium Solicitors for your immigration matter by getting in contact with us using one of the following means of contact:
Call Us: 0044 20 3930 3900
Email Us: info@premiumsolicitors.co.uk
Complete Enquiry Form: Send your enquiry through our website enquiry form
Book an Appointment Online: You can book an appointment with one of our specialist immigration solicitors in London for detailed immigration advice and consultation on your immigration matter.
What Are Our Other Related Services?
- Parent of a British Child Visa UK
- Switching to a Parent of a British Child Visa (5 Years Route)
- Switching to a Parent of a British Child Visa (10 Years Route)
- Extension of Parent of a British Child Visa (5 Years Route)
- Extension of Parent of a British Child Visa (10 Years Route)
- ILR as a Parent of a British Child (5 Years Route)
- ILR as a Parent of a British Child (10 Years Route)
- Family Visa UK
- Immigration Appeals UK
- Naturalisation After One Year of ILR
- Entry Clearance Appeal Against Refusal of a UK Visa
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The following are the various frequently asked questions (FAQs) about an entry clearance application for the parent of a British child visa:
Entry clearance for a parent of a British child visa allows a non-UK resident parent to apply from outside the UK to join and live with their British child in the UK. This route is governed by Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules and focuses on the child’s best interests.
You can apply for entry clearance for a parent of a British child visa if:
- Your child is a British citizen or has lived in the UK continuously for at least 7 years
- The child is under 18 years of age
- The child is living in the UK
- You have sole parental responsibility or direct access rights
- You intend to play an active role in the child’s upbringing
- You meet the adequate maintenance and accommodation requirements
- You meet the English language requirement at CEFR level A1 in listening and speaking only
- You provide the Tuberculosis Test certificate (if applicable)
Yes, you must apply for entry clearance from your country of residence if you are outside the UK. You cannot apply from within the UK if you are resident outside the UK.
The main requirements include:
- Genuine and subsisting parental relationship with the British child
- Evidence of sole responsibility or regular contact with the child and active involvement in the child’s life
- Adequate accommodation in the UK
- Adequate maintenance requirement to maintain himself/herself and the child without any access to public funds
- English language requirement (A1 level minimum)
- Tuberculosis Test (if applicable)
Not necessarily. You can qualify if:
- You have sole parental responsibility, OR
- You have direct access rights to the child and are actively involved in their upbringing
The documents required for the entry clearance application as a parent of a British child may vary depending on the applicant's circumstances. Typical documents may include:
- Child’s British passport or proof of citizenship
- Birth certificate showing parental relationship
- Evidence of the child's residence in the UK at the time of the application submission
- Court orders or agreements confirming access/parental responsibility
- Evidence of contact (photos, messages, financial support)
- Proof of accommodation in the UK
- Evidence to meet the adequate maintenance reequirement
- English language certificate
- TB Test Certificate (if applicable)
To succeed in an entry clearance application for a parent of a British child visa, the applicant must meet the financial requirement of adequate maintenance.
The Home Office UKVI will use the following formula to determine whether you meet the adequate maintenance requirement for your parent of a British child visa entry clearance application:
A – B ≥ C (A minus B is greater than or equal to C)
Where:
A is the net income (after deduction of income tax and National Insurance contributions);
B is housing costs (Rent and Council Tax); and
C is the amount of Income Support an equivalent British family of that size can receive.
The applicant must provide evidence that he/she will be able to adequately maintain and accommodate himself/herself and any dependent children in the UK without recourse to public funds
If granted, entry clearance is usually issued for 33 months. You can later apply for an extension from within the UK.
Yes, the parent of a British child visa allows you to:
- Work full-time or part-time
- Be self-employed
- Study in the UK
Yes, you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) after completing 5 years in the UK with leave to enter or remain as a parent under the 5-year route. Alternatively, you can qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) after 10 years' residence in the UK if you are under the 10-year route to settlement. You must complete continuous lawful residence and meet all requirements before applying for ILR.
An application for entry clearance for a parent of a British child visa is normally decided within 60 working days under the standard service and within 30 working days if submitted through the Priority Service.
Yes, you must usually pass an approved English test at A1 level or higher, unless you are exempt due to nationality or other valid reasons.
Yes, you can include any non-British dependent children in your application when applying for entry clearance as a parent of a British child.
UKVI must consider whether refusing your application would negatively impact the child’s welfare. This is a key legal principle under UK immigration law, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act (BCIA) 2009.
You can challenge the refusal of your entry clearance application as a parent of a British child by filing an appeal to the First Tier Tribunal, where an independent immigration judge will hear and determine the appeal. The appeal against the refusal decision must be filed within 28 days of the refusal decision.
The expert team of immigration solicitors at Premium Solicitors can provide legal advice and representation in relation to an appeal against the refusal of an entry clearance application as a parent of a British child.
At Premium Solicitors, our specialist immigration solicitors can:
- Assess your eligibility and provide a fixed-fee quote
- Prepare and submit a strong entry clearance application
- Advise on complex cases involving parental responsibility or refusals
- Represent you in appeals to challenge the refusal decisions
Can I apply for entry clearance as a parent of a child through Priority Service from outside the UK?
The Priority Service for entry clearance applications for the parent of a British child visa is currently suspended by the Home Office UKVI. The Priority Service is likely to be reinstated soon. Once the Priority Service is reinstated, it will be possible to apply for entry clearance for a parent of a child visa from outside the UK through Priority Service for a faster decision on the application.
How can I challenge the refusal of my application for entry clearance for parent of a child visa UK?
If your parent of a child visa entry clearance application is refused by the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) of the Home Office UKVI, you will get a right of appeal to challenge the refusal of your parent of a child visa entry clearance application. You should file an appeal against the refusal of the parent of a British child visa entry clearance within 28 days of receiving the refusal decision.
The earliest you can apply for the extension/renewal of your parent of a British child visa, which was granted from outside the UK, is 28 days before completing 30 months in the UK, starting from your first entry date on the parent of a British child visa. Our fast-track family visa lawyers can fast-track your application for renewal of your parent of a British child visa and get a decision on your visa renewal application within 24 hours.