What route to apply after visa granted on long residence

[Annieng]

Hi, my friend was granted a leave to remain (work permitted) on the basis of continuous long residence after 20 years in the UK. The visa was for 2.5 years and expiring in a few weeks.
Now he has a two year British born son with his settled wife who he's been married to for over 5 years.
Which visa route can he apply now that will give him the best chance of settlement?
Or can he go straight to applying for settlement given his long residence history?
Thanks.

[vinny]

Which visa route can he apply now that will give him the best chance of settlement?

Private life

Or can he go straight to applying for settlement given his long residence history?

No.

[Annieng]

Thanks Vinny. Can he apply for the first 2.5 years leave as a parent of a british child?

Or does it have to be private life? If it's private life, how many years does he need to be on this route before settlement?

[vinny]

He is currently on a ten year private life route to settlement. However, with a settled wife, he may be able to switch to the partner 5-year route, starting from grant of switch, if he satisfies all the requirements, including English, financial, accommodation requirements, etc.

[secret.simon]

my friend was granted a leave to remain (work permitted) on the basis of continuous long residence after 20 years in the UK.

If your friend was issued a leave to remain based on 20 years of presence in the UK, that indicates that at least a part of the presence in the UK was illegal/that he was an overstayer for a period of time. That may have knock-on implications for any fuuture naturalisation applications as well.

He would be eligible for ILR after either 10 years of continuous legal residence OR five years of residence in the UK after being granted an FLR as the partner of a settled person. Is the settled spouse an EEA citizen or a person on ILR?

[Annieng]

Hi, his wife was settled on ILR.
Is he able to apply as parent of his British born son though?

[secret.simon]

Hi, his wife was settled on ILR.
Is he able to apply as parent of his British born son though?

To the best of my knowledge (and @vinny may be able to advise more in this field), if he is eligible to apply for both the partner and the parent route, he is required to take the partner route.

He can only apply for the parent of a British citizen route if he is not eligible to apply as a partner.

But wait for others to advise further.

[vinny]

Agree.