% &

Staff Immigration "

 ! STAYING PERMANENTLY ! Settling in the UK

! Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) requirements
! ILR for Dependants

ILR for Dependants

Information on ILR
requirements for family
members who hold
Dependant visas.

Family members of visa holders (such as

Skilled Worker/ Tier 2 and Global Talent)
who hold Dependant visas can be
included in the same ILR application if
they meet the eligibility criteria.
The same ILR and Super Priority fees are
charged for each person, whether main
applicant or dependant.
As mentioned above, all applicants over
18 years old when applying for ILR must
meet the English language requirements
and have passed the ‘Life in the UK’ test.

+ Expand All

Partners 

Specific eligibility criteria for partners are

that they:
Have lived with the main applicant in
the UK on Dependant visas for 5
years;
Are still in a relationship with the
main applicant and the couple intend
to continue to live together;
Have not spent more than 180 days
in any 12 month rolling period
outside the UK during the validity of
any visa issued after 11 January 2018
(when the ‘continuous residence’
requirement was extended to
partners).
The new rule for Global Talent/ Tier 1
Exceptional and Skilled Worker/ Tier 2
visa holders who work in research and
lecturer roles, under which periods of
research outside the UK are no longer
counted against the limit on absences,
also applies to partners who hold
Dependant visas and have accompanied
them during these periods.
Some partners may not have lived in the
UK under a Dependant visa for five years,
and will not yet be eligible to apply when
the main applicant is applying for ILR.
They may, for example, have arrived in the
UK later than the main applicant, or held
a different visa and only recently switched
to a Dependant visa.
Once the main applicant has been granted
ILR, however, it is possible for a partner to
continue under, and extend, their
Dependant visa to get to the point they
can apply for ILR. As both parents must
have settled for children to be eligible, if a
partner cannot apply for ILR until later
any children will also have to wait and
apply with them.

# Dependant visa holders

extending after the main
applicant has ILR
Please note that a Dependant
visa holder seeking to extend
their Dependant visa after
the main applicant has been
granted ILR (under the
standard 5 year route) can
only apply for, and be
granted, a three year
extension.
If they need a longer
extension of their Dependant
visa than three years to reach
the point they can apply for
ILR they will need to apply
for another extension later. If
they do not need as long as
three years to reach the point
they can apply for ILR they
unfortunately will still have
to apply, and pay, for three
years.

A partner who does not hold a Dependant

visa before the main applicant is granted
ILR, or whose partner has been granted
ILR under the 10 year 'Long residence'
route (rather than the standard 5 year
route), will have to apply as the
spouse/partner of a settled person. They
would then have to spend five years under
that visa route to be able to apply for ILR.

Children 

Children born in the UK 

Contact us

Medical Sciences / Humanities / GLAM / UAS /

Continuing Education / Colleges

Angelina Pelova,
Email: angelina.pelova@admin.ox.ac.uk

Jennifer Brewer, Email:

jennifer.brewer@admin.ox.ac.uk

MPLS / Social Sciences

Lyn Davis, Email: lyn.davis@admin.ox.ac.uk

Richard Birt, Email: richard.birt@admin.ox.ac.uk

Popular links

$ Forms & Guidance

$ UK Visa and Immigration website
$ UKVCAS Sopra Steria

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