Can Mother of British Citizen Children Enter the UK
Can Mother of British Citizen Children Enter the UK

I’ve devoted today’s article to answering one of the questions, which one of my subscribers asked: if the mother of British Citizen children can enter the UK?

The Question

‘I got two British citizen daughters which they are outside the UK. Is there any other option rather than a spouse visa, which my wife can use in order to enter the UK?’.

Guys, I would like to start answering this question withdrawing your attention to the legal disclaimer. If you follow this link, you will notice that none of my article/videos or any published material constitutes legal advice. All is for your educational purposes only.

My understanding is this: the subscriber is a British citizen. He is married to a visa national lady. They have two daughters. Both are British citizens because of the father’s citizenship. The mother and the girls reside outside the UK. The father resides in the UK and wants to bring over his wife. However, he does not seem to be able to meet the financial requirement of the spouse visa application. For this reason, he wonders if he could make an application on the basis of his wife being the mother of his children.

 

The Answer

The answer is ‘No’. Here is why:

It is true that there is a provision in the Immigration Rules, which allows parents of British citizens to enter and live in the UK with their children.

However, in our case scenario, the family does not seem to meet the requirements.

 

The Rules

According to the rules, the child of the mother must be-

 

(a)  under the age of 18 years at the date of application;

(b)  living in the UK; and

(c)  a British Citizen or settled in the UK.

 

The second condition (b) is not satisfied because daughters are not in the UK.

Even if they were, the family will have difficulty meeting the next requirement:

 

(a)  the mother must have sole parental responsibility for the child; or

(b)  the parent or carer with whom the child normally lives must be-

(i) a British Citizen in the UK or settled in the UK;

(ii) not the partner of the applicant; and

(iii) the applicant must not be eligible to apply for entry clearance as a partner under this Appendix.

 

The father and the mother are still partners for legal purposes and the decision maker is most likely to refuse the application on these basis directing the couple to submit the application as a partner rather than as a parent.

 

The Solution

For the reasons, explained above, I am afraid, the mother will not be able to make an application to enter the UK as a parent. She will need to make an application to enter the UK as a partner.

If the couple is unable to meet the financial requirement of the partner application, they should consider applying outside the rules, relying on Article 8 and the fact that it is not in the best interest of the children to be raised by only one parent.

These types of application are legally challenging and should only be submitted with the help of a very experienced immigration advisor.

Can Mother of British Citizen Children Enter the UK?