Private Life Route ILR - 7 year countinously lived in UK as child

[rafi_im786]

Dear Immigration Advisors,

I am looking for suggestions or advice for my case.

I moved into the United Kingdom, Initially on June 2016 for 6 months under Tier 2 Skills transfer visa. And then again I came back in July 2017 under Tier 2 ICT visa (Absence before my second entry was 182 days). In 2021 June I got my Tier 2 Skilled worker visa and I will be eligible for ILR by May/June 2026 as per the current rules. Also, my individual salary is above £50,000 for more than 5 years, even under the earned settlement process, I believe I will be eligible for ILR by May/June 2026.

Here, my question is my son who is born in the UK and lived here for continuously 7 years. He is also holding dependent visa. He is eligible now for 7 year route of private life ILR (child settlement visa). I checked online /gov.uk, there is no priority/super priority visa's available for private life route. And the processing time is mentioned 6 months, but I found few cases where the application took years to make decision.

- Should I apply for private life (child settlement visa) ILR for my son or else wait till next year may/june and apply for him along with us.
- Will the processing take more than 6 months?
- Is there any way I can apply the visa for priorty/super priority visa?
- After getting his decision can he apply for citizenship immediately or he needs to wait for minimum 12 months?
- Is the minimum wait before citizenship starts from the decision made or the delay in processing time will be considered in the wait before applying ciitzenship?

Thanks in advance for all your valuable suggestions/answers.


Kind regards,
Rafi

[secret.simon]

You have two separate questions governed by two different sets of rules, regulations and laws.

The immigration pathway ends at ILR. Acquisition of British citizenship is not a part of the immigration pathway, but governed by an entirely different law.

With regards to the first question, apart from the birth in the UK and having lived for 7 years continuously in the UK, you also need to demonstrate why it is unreasonable for the child to leave the UK. A seven year old child is young enough to adapt to life in other countries/cultures and learn other languages.

Child born in the UK requirements for settlement on the Private life route

PL 13.1. The applicant must have been born in the UK and must provide a full UK birth certificate.

PL 13.2. The applicant must have lived continuously in the UK since their birth and for at least 7 years at the date of application.

PL 13.3. The decision maker must be satisfied that it is not reasonable to expect the applicant to leave the UK.

If you are eligible for ILR in May/June 2026, you may want to apply for your child with you at that time. As a child born in the UK, they will be eligible for ILR at the same time as the first parent.

With regards to registering the child as a British citizen, the application of naturalising as a British citizen after one year on ILR applies to adults. The rules for children are different.

The child, born in the UK, will be eligible when
(a) either one parent acquires ILR, or,
(b) the child completes 10 years of continuous legal residence in the UK with absences of no more than 90 days in each of the 10 years.

As they are a child born in the UK, they will have an entitlement to register as a British citizen when either one parent acquires ILR, even if they (the child) does not have legal status in the UK at that time. So you may not have to apply for ILR for the child. Just apply directly for the child to be registered as a British citizen after you get ILR.