UK Child Visa
UK Child Visa
UK Child Visa
The Child visa is for children of UK citizens who want to join their parent in the United
Kingdom
British citizens who have children living outside the United Kingdom can take them to
the UK through the Child Visa, which falls under the Family visa category.
A UK Family Visa, is the type of visa you will need if you want to enter and remain in the
UK to live with a family member for more than 6 months. Besides the Child Visa, other
types of UK Family visas include:
Spouse visa
Parent visa
Visa for a relative who will provide long-term care for you
Whereas, if you are in the UK you have two choices. You can apply online, or by post.
You can also apply at a premium service center. In order to do so you will have to fill in
the form and book an appointment, or make an online application and book an
appointment.
If you apply in the UK, upon your application you will receive a letter asking you to
provide your biometric information, which means your fingerprints and a photo.
You will have to use the form FLR(M) if your parent has a limited permission to stay in the
UK:
Whereas, you will have to use the form FLR(FP) if your parent has a limited permission to
stay in the UK:
If you’re over 18 then your parent can include you in their application as a dependant.
You can also apply separately, but in both cases you are eligible to apply only if:
you got permission to enter and remain in the UK for an appointed period of time
on a family visa when you were under 18
you don’t live an independent life
The reason behind this requirement is that the UK doesn’t want to bring people that are
not capable of financially maintaining themselves, therefore they are requiring from
them (or their sponsor) to be able to earn a minimum amount of money.
If the sponsor parent living in the UK is planning to bring to the UK his or her other
children who are not British nationals or EEA nationals, then he or she has to earn extra
money for each.
Many people fail to obtain their visas because they cannot fulfill this requirement, to
which the Home Affairs gives a lot of importance and attention. The good side of this
requirement is that every legal source of income can be counted in order for the
parent to meet the income requirement, as:
A letter from an employer which includes the job title, the period the parent has worked
there, the current salary and also payslips
Exempt from English knowledge requirement are also the residents of the countries
listed below, despite of their age:
Aside of children, the applicants that belong to one of the categories listed below are
also exempt from this requirement:
If you will have to prove your language you can do that by taking an approved English
language test and passing it with at least a CEFR level A1 in speaking and listening.
Here you can find a list of approved English language tests and providers.
Visa Fee
Visa fees depend on the way you apply. If you apply outside the UK to join your parent,
you will have to pay a fee of £1,464. Whereas if you apply in the UK online or by post the
fee will cost to you £993, and £1,583 if you apply in the UK in person with the premium
service.
Even if you are applying as a dependant added to the application of your other
parent, you will still have to pay the fee of £1,464 if you apply outside the UK, £993 if you
apply in the UK online or by post and £1,583 if you apply in the UK in person with the
premium service.
Required Documents
In order to be able to apply for a UK child visa, you need to submit some documents
that are commonly required for every type of visa, aside of the supporting document.
The main documents that you will have to submit are the following:
Valid passport with at least an empty page in order to be able to affix visa
previous passports
2 passport sized color photos
Proof of English language requirement
Proof of financial means
Proof of relationship with your UK residing parent, as photos of you two together,
etc.
You will also have to submit supporting documents that will give the following
information:
Visa Validity
If your application gets approved, you will receive a biometric residence permit which
will be valid for 2.5 years. You will have to apply for its extension before it expires. Under
this biometric residence permit you will be able to study, and work once your reach
age.