Explanatory Memorandum > 7.17-7.21 wrote:Dependants of Points Based System Migrants
7.17. Partners of Points Based System migrants who entered the UK after 9 July 2012 are now required to complete a five year probationary period before they can apply for settlement. Where the main Points Based System migrant obtains settlement prior to their partner, these changes will enable the dependant to obtain a grant of further leave to remain in the Points Based System dependant category, rather than requiring the partner to apply for leave to remain as the partner of a person who has subsequently settled.
7.18. Where the Points Based System migrant has obtained settlement and their partner applies for further leave to remain as a Points Based System dependant, the duration of any leave will be for
three years at a time to allow for the possibility that the partner will not meet the requirements for settlement on completion of the five year probationary period.
7.19. These changes also allow a PBS Migrant’s partner to amalgamate leave granted to them as the dependant of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant, together with any leave granted to them as the spouse, civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner of that same person when they held leave under another category of these Rules, and count that towards the probationary period for settlement.
7.20. Changes are also being made to the rules for children of Points Based System Migrants (paragraphs 319F to 319J) to enable a child to join his parents in the UK after the Relevant Points Based System Migrant has been granted settlement and to provide that, unless the Relevant Points Based System Migrant has sole parental responsibility, a child should not be granted settlement in the UK until both his parents are settled or about to become settled. These changes close a lacuna in the existing provisions and ensure consistency with the Family rules (Appendix FM).
7.21. A minor, technical change is being made to the transitional provisions in HC 194 to make absolutely clear the interaction between Part 8 of the Rules and the new Family Migration Rules which came into force on 9 July. The change makes it clear to applicants that paragraphs 319AA-319J in Part 8 of the Rules continue to apply, to applications made on or after 9 July 2012, by persons who have made an application for entry clearance, leave to enter or remain as the spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, same sex partner, or child of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant and that those Rules are not subject to any additional requirements listed in Appendix FM.
