Can my child get ILR if their other parent hasn't settled?
Short answer: your children completing five years in the UK is necessary, but it is usually not the deciding factor. On the Skilled Worker route, whether a dependent child can get indefinite leave to remain (ILR) generally depends on the parents' settlement position — and in most cases the child's other parent must also be settling, already be settled, or be British. Because your children's father has not completed five years and is not being granted settlement, the children will usually not be able to settle alongside you yet. Instead they typically extend their dependant leave in line with him and apply for ILR later.
- A child's five years of residence and the relationship requirement must be met, but they are not enough on their own.
- The other parent must usually also be granted settlement at the same time, or be settled or British (Appendix Children, CHI 4.3).
- Exceptions: sole surviving parent, sole responsibility, or serious and compelling reasons.
- Where the other parent is still on limited leave, the child normally extends as a dependant and settles later.
- This is general information, not legal advice — sole-responsibility cases are very fact-specific.
Why your children completing 5 years isn't the deciding factor
It is natural to assume that once a child has lived here for five years as your dependant, they qualify for settlement. The Immigration Rules look at it differently. Under Appendix Skilled Worker, a dependent child's settlement requirements are routed through Appendix Children (rule SW 41A.1). That appendix sets out who a child can settle with.
The relationship requirement does matter: the child must have been your dependant throughout the qualifying period. But meeting that is the entry ticket, not the whole game. The rule then asks a separate, more important question — what is happening with both parents.
The other-parent rule (the real test)
The key provision is CHI 4.3 in Appendix Children. In plain English, the child's other parent (the one not making the settlement application) must generally be being granted settlement at the same time, or already be settled or a British citizen — unless one of these applies:
- you are the child's sole surviving parent; or
- you have sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or
- there are serious and compelling reasons to grant the child settlement.
The policy intention, as the Home Office caseworker guidance puts it, is that a child should normally settle in the UK when both parents are settled or British. Because your children's father has not completed five years and is not settling now, none of those default conditions is met. Unless a sole-responsibility or compelling-circumstances exception genuinely applies to your family, the children would generally not be granted ILR at the same time as you.
Do not assume "sole responsibility" applies just because you are the main visa holder or the children live mainly with you. In immigration law, sole responsibility usually means the other parent is unknown, deceased, or has effectively abandoned their role in the children's upbringing. If their father remains involved in their lives, this exception will rarely succeed, and a misjudged ILR application can be refused and the fee lost.
What usually happens instead: extend now, settle later
Where one parent is still on limited leave, the common path is for the children to extend their dependant permission in line with that parent. The Rules build this in: a dependent child's permission generally ends on the same date as whichever parent's permission ends first, unless both parents are being (or have been) granted settlement.
So in practice you might:
- apply for your own ILR once you qualify;
- extend the children's dependant leave so it runs in line with their father's ongoing Skilled Worker permission; then
- apply for the children's ILR later, typically when their father also reaches five years and you both settle around the same time.
This keeps the children lawfully resident and lined up to settle once the family's position allows it. For timing across the family, see when your dependants can apply for ILR on the Skilled Worker route.
Your practical options
- Wait and settle together. Often the cleanest route: both parents apply for ILR around the same time, and the children settle with you both. Our guide on whether to apply together or separately walks through the trade-offs.
- Extend the children now. If their father still has time left on his visa, extend the children as dependants so nobody falls out of status.
- Take advice on an exception. If you believe sole responsibility or serious and compelling circumstances genuinely apply, get a regulated adviser to assess it before applying — these are evidence-heavy.
Child settlement is one of the most fact-sensitive areas of the Rules, so check the current GOV.UK guidance or speak to an OISC-registered adviser or immigration solicitor before deciding.
And once your own ILR is in sight, the next milestone is often citizenship — which means the Life in the UK test. You can start practising free at britpass.app.