Eligibility for 7-Year Child Residence Route

[Rana07]

Hello,

I’ve been in the UK with my family since January 2019 (6 years and 5 months as of June 2025) on ICT Tier2 visa. I have two children: one is 16 years old, and the other is 11 years old. Our current visas are set to expire in December 2025. I’m seeking advice on the 7-year child residence route for my children.

1) When can we apply for this route, given we’ll reach 7 years of continuous residence in January 2026?
2) Are there specific requirements we need to meet for my children to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or limited leave to remain under this route?
3) Can I apply for myself and my spouse as parents under this route, and if so, when?

Any guidance on the process, documentation, or timelines would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Ticktack]

If you were born in the UK and have lived here for 7 continuous years since your birth, you can apply immediately for indefinite leave to remain on the basis of your private life.

Otherwise you can apply for indefinite leave to remain on the basis of your private life if all of the following are true:

you arrived in the UK as a child
you’ve lived in the UK for 5 continuous years on a relevant visa
you got your most recent visa on the basis of your private life
You must have got this private life visa either:

as a child
when you were aged between 18 and 24, because you’d spent half of your life in the UK

[secret.simon]

The 7 year route falls under Appendix Private Life of the Immigration Rules.

The residency requirement for a child under the age of 18 is

PL 3.1. Where the applicant is aged under 18 at the date of application the following requirements must be met:
(a) the applicant must have been continuously resident in the UK for at least 7 years; and
(b) the decision maker must be satisfied that it would not be reasonable to expect the applicant to leave the UK.

If the elder child is 16 and they have lived in the UK for 7 years, that would logically mean that they moved here at the age of 8-9. They would therefore have been old enough to assimilate with the culture and lifestyle of their home country before moving to the UK. Can you therefore explain why is it not reasonable for the child to leave the UK?

It may be slightly easier to make that argument for the younger child. But again, that is an argument for you to make.