Adult dependent child ILR: does my casual student work hurt?
Modest, occasional university student work does not, on its own, generally mean you are "leading an independent life" — because the Immigration Rules define that test by reference to whether you have a partner and whether you live with your parent, not by whether you earn a small amount of money. As an adult dependent child applying for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) via SET(O) on your father's Global Talent route, your casual student-agency work is unlikely by itself to break dependency, provided you have disclosed it and can show continued financial dependence. That said, adult dependants are scrutinised more heavily, so the strength of your evidence is what carries the case.
- The rule: Appendix Children CHI 1A.1 — "The applicant must not be leading an independent life."
- What it means: does not have a partner, and lives with their parent (exception for full-time boarding school, college or university study).
- Income is not in the definition: the test turns on relationships and household, not on earning a modest wage.
- Over-18s qualify only if they currently hold permission as the dependant and are not married or in a civil partnership.
- General information, not legal advice.
Which rules actually apply to you
The Global Talent route is a route to settlement, and a dependent child can settle on it using form SET(O) (the GOV.UK overview confirms the main applicant and dependants can apply together where eligible). For settlement, Appendix Global Talent routes the child's eligibility through Appendix Children for the "age and independent life requirement" (GT 29A.1). So the operative test is not buried in the Global Talent rules — it sits in Appendix Children.
GOV.UK's Global Talent guidance also confirms what counts as a dependent child: a child over 18 qualifies where they "currently have permission" as the dependant, must "not be married or in a civil partnership", and must "live with you, unless they're living away from home in full-time education — for example, at boarding school or university".
What "leading an independent life" really tests
This is the part that reassures your situation. Appendix Children sets the requirement at CHI 1A.1: the applicant "must not be leading an independent life". The accompanying caseworker guidance defines that as meeting both: the applicant does not have a partner, and the applicant is living with their parent — with an express exception where they are at boarding school, college or university as part of their full-time education.
Notice what is absent from the definition: it does not say a dependant must earn nothing, hold no job, or pay no money towards anything. The test is built around your relationship status and your household, not your payslip. On the facts you describe — unmarried, no children, no partner, living in the family home, full-time London student — you sit squarely inside the definition, and the university exception covers you even if you were living away to study.
Where your casual work fits
Your student-agency work is a contract for services rather than employment, with earnings well below the personal allowance and zero income tax or National Insurance. Because the independent-life definition does not hinge on income, occasional low-value work while you remain a full-time student living at home and financially dependent on your father generally does not convert you into someone leading an independent life.
What does matter is continued financial dependence, and your bundle speaks to it directly: the supplementary Amex your father pays in full, his bank statements showing those payments, his regular transfers, and the electoral register placing all four of you at one address. That is the picture caseworkers look for — a person who has not formed an independent existence.
Adult dependants are scrutinised more heavily than children under 18. The safeguard is twofold: continued financial dependency evidenced clearly (parent's funds, joint household, no independent household of your own), and full disclosure of the casual work with the contract and payslips showing it is not employment. Concealing modest earnings is far riskier than declaring them. For a borderline adult-dependant case, take advice from a regulated immigration adviser (OISC-registered or a solicitor) before you submit.
Practical steps before July 2026
Keep the dependency narrative coherent. Pair the casual-work documents with a short covering declaration explaining the contract-for-services nature, the sub-allowance earnings, and your full reliance on your father. Make sure the bank statements run continuously and visibly tie his transfers to your spending. Confirm you still hold valid permission as a dependant at the date of application, and double-check the current SET(O) requirements on GOV.UK, since rules and fees change.
If you want the rest of your journey to British citizenship to go smoothly, you can practise the Life in the UK test any time at britpass.app — it's the knowledge requirement you'll meet later, and it's worth getting ahead of.