Child Dependant Visa Lawyer in Bedford: Bring Your Son or Daughter to the UK

Which rules apply to your child?

Decisions on child applications usually take about 12 weeks from outside the UK and about 8 weeks from inside. Children applying as family members do not need to prove English. Sources: GOV.UK: apply as a child and GOV.UK: knowledge of English.

Written and reviewed by Basharat Hussain, IAA regulated Immigration Lawyer (Ref F201800051). Rules checked October 2026 against Part 8 and Appendix Children of the Immigration Rules on GOV.UK.

Joining a parent who is British or settled

These are the cases we see most often in Bedford: a mother or father who came to the UK years ago, now holds Indefinite Leave to Remain or a British passport, and wants a son or daughter who stayed behind with relatives to join them. The rules ask four questions.

• The child: under 18 on the application date, unmarried, not in a civil partnership and not living an independent life.
• The parents: both are settled in the UK, or one is settled and has had sole responsibility, or there are serious and compelling family or other reasons that make leaving the child abroad undesirable.
• The home: housing the family owns or occupies exclusively, where the child can live without overcrowding and without public funds.
• The money: enough to maintain the child adequately without claiming public funds.

When the settled parent is joined by a partner applying at the same time, the child often applies on the partner route instead. Source: Immigration Rules Part 8.

Proving sole responsibility

Sole responsibility is the test that decides most cases where one parent is still abroad. It is not about who has custody on paper, or who the child sleeps under the same roof as. The question is whether the parent in the UK has been in charge of the important decisions in the child’s life, over a long period, without the other parent sharing that role.

Caseworkers expect a history, not a snapshot. Evidence we help parents assemble includes:

• School admission forms, reports and fee receipts that name you as the parent to contact
• Medical and vaccination records showing you were consulted on treatment
• Regular money transfers over several years, not just in the months before applying
• Messages, call logs and visit records that show your ongoing involvement
• Letters from the grandparent, aunt or uncle caring for the child confirming they follow your instructions
• Any custody, guardianship or divorce order from the child’s home country

Evidence that the other parent has had little or no involvement matters as much as evidence of your own role.

The other parent’s consent

For a child under 18 the Home Office wants to know that moving to the UK has the agreement of everyone with parental rights. On the dependant routes the rules require written consent from both parents, or from one parent if that parent has sole responsibility, or from a legal guardian. The letter should confirm the application itself, where the child will live and be cared for in the UK, and how they will travel. Source: Appendix Children.

• Other parent alive and in contact: a signed letter, a copy of their passport or ID, and their contact details.
• Other parent has died: the death certificate in place of consent.
• Other parent cannot be found: evidence of attempts to trace them, such as letters, notices and statements from relatives.
• Other parent refuses: usually a court order from the child’s home country dealing with custody or travel.

Serious and compelling reasons

Where neither shared settlement nor sole responsibility can be shown, a child may still qualify if there are serious and compelling family or other considerations that make it undesirable to keep the child out of the UK. This is a welfare test. Typical examples are a grandparent carer who is now too frail to cope, a child left without a safe home after a family breakdown, or a child whose particular needs cannot be met where they live.

Better schools or wider opportunities in the UK are not enough on their own. These cases need independent evidence, such as medical letters about the current carer, school or social work reports and statements from people who know the family. We tell you plainly if the evidence is not yet there.

Children of Skilled Worker, Student and Graduate visa holders

If you are in the UK on a work or study route rather than with settlement, your child applies as your dependant and receives permission that ends on the same date as yours. Appendix Children sets the common tests: the child must be under 18 when first applying, both parents must be in the UK lawfully or applying together unless one has sole responsibility or there are serious reasons, and there must be suitable care and housing arrangements.

• Skilled Worker: the family shows £315 for the first child and £200 for each further child for 28 days, unless you have all been here for 12 months or the sponsor certifies maintenance. Dependants of care workers and some medium-skilled workers are restricted. GOV.UK
• Student: children can only join a parent on a postgraduate research course or a government-sponsored course longer than 6 months. GOV.UK
• Graduate: only children who already hold dependant permission, or who were born in the UK, can be included. GOV.UK

Our work visa and Graduate visa pages explain the parent’s side of these routes.

Children born in the UK

A baby born in Bedford is not always British. Whether the child is a citizen at birth depends on the parents’ status on the day of the birth, which our British citizenship page explains. A UK-born child who is not British has no visa of their own, so to travel abroad and come back, or to be included in the parent’s next extension, the family applies for dependant permission using the full birth certificate that names both parents. When a parent later settles, the child may be able to register as British rather than keep renewing.

Applying from inside the UK and turning 18

Some children are already in the UK when the family decides to apply, for example as a dependant of a parent whose status has changed. Whether a child can apply from inside depends on the permission they hold now; children here as visitors usually have to leave and apply from abroad. Birthdays matter too. A first application as a dependent child must be made before the 18th birthday, while a child who already holds dependant permission can usually extend after 18 as long as they still live as part of the family.

TB tests and English for children

No English test is needed for any child applying as a family member or dependant. A TB test is needed if the child is coming for more than 6 months and has been living in a listed country. Every child attends the approved clinic, but children under 11 do not normally have a chest x-ray; the clinician assesses them instead. The certificate is valid for 6 months. Source: GOV.UK TB tests for visa applicants.

Why child applications are refused

• Money transfers that start only shortly before the application
• No consent from the other parent and no explanation why
• A carer abroad who is shown to be making the real decisions
• A home that would be overcrowded once the child arrives
• Income evidence that does not match bank statements
• An application made days after the child’s 18th birthday

We read the refusal letter with you and explain whether a fresh application with stronger evidence makes sense. If the case needs an appeal or judicial review, we will tell you and refer you to a solicitor or barrister.