Family life and exceptional circumstances: caseworker guidance
Immigration staff guidance on considering claims based on family life (as a partner or parent) or exceptional circumstances.
- From:
- UK Visas and Immigration
- Published
- 25 July 2019
- Last updated
-
2117MayJuly20242025 — See all updates
Documents
Family life (as a partner or parent) and exceptional circumstances
PDF, 682593 KB, 84 pages
Details
If you have made an application for leave to remain and you:
- have not yet received a decision
- consider you are in need of recourse to public funds
- are eligible to apply for a change of conditions, or will be eligible if your application is granted
you need to complete a change of conditions application.
UK Visas and Immigration guidance on how staff decide applications or claims for leave to enter or remain on the basis of family life as a partner or parent or exceptional circumstances in compliance with Article 8 (right to family and private life of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)).
Updates to this page
Published 25 July 2019
Last updated 2117 MayJuly 2024
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Update history
2025-09-05 16:03
Updated to provide further guidance on the duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009.
2025-07-17 16:34
Updated to provide clarity on when a person in the UK with immigration status granted under Appendix EU can act as a sponsor to bring a partner to the UK, and to remove reference to Part 11 of the Immigration rules and update link to refer to Appendix Family Reunion (Protection).
2024-05-21 13:43
Guidance updated to provide links to new financial requirement guidance.
2024-02-16 09:08
Guidance updated to allow a person recognised as stateless to sponsor a partner and their children under Appendix FM; reflect the changes to the definition of a partner in paragraph 6.2 of the Immigration Rules.
2023-05-18 10:59
Guidance updated to remove sections relating to allowing access to public funds, which is now covered in separate guidance (Access to public funds – family private life and Hong Kong BN(O) routes), and include a new section on how to assess access to public funds when making the initial decision.
2022-08-12 09:21
Guidance updated to remove sections relating to family settlement applications, which is now covered in separate Family and private life settlement guidance.
2022-06-20 12:44
PDF entitled ‘Concession to the family Immigration Rules for granting longer periods of leave and early indefinite leave to remain’ removed because it is no longer valid.
2022-06-20 09:00
Updated guidance includes a change to the definition of sponsors; changes to the two-stage approach to Family Life claims; changes to the approach when an applicant has a partner but applies as a parent; clarification that written evidence is required to disclose a document to the Home Office. Information on how to deal with private life considerations has been moved to separate guidance.
Details
If you have made an application for leave to remain and you:
- have not yet received a decision
- consider you are in need of recourse to public funds
- are eligible to apply for a change of conditions, or will be eligible if your application is granted
you need to complete a change of conditions application.
UK Visas and Immigration guidance on how staff decide applications or claims for leave to enter or remain on the basis of family life as a partner or parent or exceptional circumstances in compliance with Article 8 (right to family and private life of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)).
Updates to this page
Sign up for emails or print this page
Update history
2025-09-05 16:03
Updated to provide further guidance on the duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009.
2025-07-17 16:34
Updated to provide clarity on when a person in the UK with immigration status granted under Appendix EU can act as a sponsor to bring a partner to the UK, and to remove reference to Part 11 of the Immigration rules and update link to refer to Appendix Family Reunion (Protection).
2024-05-21 13:43
Guidance updated to provide links to new financial requirement guidance.
2024-02-16 09:08
Guidance updated to allow a person recognised as stateless to sponsor a partner and their children under Appendix FM; reflect the changes to the definition of a partner in paragraph 6.2 of the Immigration Rules.
2023-05-18 10:59
Guidance updated to remove sections relating to allowing access to public funds, which is now covered in separate guidance (Access to public funds – family private life and Hong Kong BN(O) routes), and include a new section on how to assess access to public funds when making the initial decision.
2022-08-12 09:21
Guidance updated to remove sections relating to family settlement applications, which is now covered in separate Family and private life settlement guidance.
2022-06-20 12:44
PDF entitled ‘Concession to the family Immigration Rules for granting longer periods of leave and early indefinite leave to remain’ removed because it is no longer valid.
2022-06-20 09:00
Updated guidance includes a change to the definition of sponsors; changes to the two-stage approach to Family Life claims; changes to the approach when an applicant has a partner but applies as a parent; clarification that written evidence is required to disclose a document to the Home Office. Information on how to deal with private life considerations has been moved to separate guidance.