Children Cannot Get ILR If One Parent Is Still on a Visa
03 May 2026
If your partner is British or already has ILR, your children cannot get ILR until you do. A rule change that came into force on 26 March 2026 makes this clear.
Previously, there was a grey area. A Court of Appeal ruling in 2025 found that children could potentially settle through a settled parent, even if the other parent was still on a visa. The Home Office has now closed that route.
The change updates paragraph 297 of the Immigration Rules. It now says that a child cannot settle if one parent is settled or British and the other parent holds any form of leave to remain in the UK. The update was made in Statement of Changes HC 1691, published 5 March 2026, in response to the ruling in R (Kone) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 1653.
This affects families on the BNO, Skilled Worker, and Family visa routes where one partner has already obtained settled status or British citizenship.
What your children can do
Your children can still get leave to remain in the UK as your dependants while you complete your qualifying period. They just cannot get ILR until both parents are settled or British.
If both parents are settled or British, nothing changes for you. If one parent is settled and the other has no UK immigration status at all, for example because they live outside the UK, the usual child settlement rules still apply.
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