The Adult Dependent Relative route allows certain adult relatives who require long-term personal care to join an eligible family member in the UK.
This is a particularly demanding immigration route. A close family relationship or a general need for support is not enough. The applicant must require long-term personal care to perform everyday tasks because of age, illness or disability.
They must also be unable to obtain the required level of care in the country where they are living, even with financial assistance from their UK sponsor. This must be because the care is unavailable and there is no person in that country who can reasonably provide it, or because the required care is unaffordable.
A first application under this route must normally be made from outside the UK. Someone visiting the UK or holding permission under another route cannot ordinarily switch to the Adult Dependent Relative route from within the UK.
The applicant and sponsor must both be aged 18 or over.
The applicant must be the sponsor’s:
The sponsor must be living in the UK and must be:
Where a parent or grandparent is in a continuing relationship with a partner, that partner must normally apply as an Adult Dependent Relative at the same time.
The requirement concerning the availability and affordability of care overseas is particularly demanding. It is not enough to establish that the applicant needs care or would receive better care in the UK. The evidence must show that the required level of care cannot reasonably be obtained in the country where the applicant is living, even with financial assistance from the sponsor.
The evidence should address the applicant’s particular circumstances and location. It may include information from medical professionals, care providers, local organisations and family members, together with evidence of care costs and the applicant’s and sponsor’s financial circumstances.
If relatives or other people live in the applicant’s country, the application should explain why they cannot reasonably provide the required care. General statements about the country’s healthcare system will rarely be sufficient.
Emotional need or loneliness alone will not normally satisfy the Adult Dependent Relative requirements. The central question is whether the applicant requires long-term personal care to perform everyday tasks because of age, illness or disability.
Clinically evidenced mental-health conditions and exceptional emotional dependency may be relevant, particularly to an Article 8 assessment, but strong evidence will be required.
A first application must normally be made from outside the UK, and entry clearance must be obtained before the applicant travels to settle in the UK.
An in-country application under this route is generally limited to someone who already has, or was last granted, permission as an Adult Dependent Relative. A person in the UK as a visitor cannot ordinarily switch to this route.
A relative may apply for a visitor visa if they genuinely intend to visit temporarily and leave the UK at the end of the visit. A visitor visa cannot be used as a substitute for settlement.
Repeated or extended visits that suggest the person is effectively living in the UK may result in additional scrutiny, refusal of a future visa application or refusal of entry.
Where the sponsor is a British citizen or settled in the UK, a successful entry-clearance application normally results in settlement.
Where the sponsor has temporary protection status or qualifying limited permission under Appendix EU, the applicant will normally receive permission expiring on the same date as the sponsor’s permission.
Where the applicant is granted settlement, the sponsor must normally undertake responsibility for the applicant’s maintenance, accommodation and care for five years from the date the applicant arrives in the UK.
Where temporary permission is granted, the undertaking normally covers the duration of that permission. Public funds paid during the undertaking period may be recoverable from the sponsor.
An application may raise Article 8 human rights considerations where refusal would produce unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their family.
This is not an automatic or straightforward alternative to meeting the Immigration Rules. It requires compelling evidence of the individual circumstances, the family relationship, the degree of dependency and the consequences of refusal.
