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UK Private Life Visa Applications 2025
Apply for private life visa applications under Appendix Private Life of the immigration rules. You can apply for indefinite leave to remain or limited leave to remain.
What is the UK private life visa?
The UK private life visa provides an opportunity to those who have established family and private life in the UK. The right to family and private life originates from Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act of 1998.
You can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or limited leave to remain based on your family and private life in the UK.
A child born in the UK who has lived in the UK for 7 years continuously can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) instead of limited leave to remain.
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How can I apply for private life visa applications?
The private life visa applications allow people to remain in the UK after establishing a private and family life. The private life route is one of the categories under the UK’s family immigration programme, and applications for this category are made in accordance with Article 8 of the ECHR1.
To qualify for a visa under UK private life applications depends on the time an individual lived in the UK. Our experienced immigration lawyers can help you to apply for a private life visa if:
- You are under the age of 18 and have lived in the UK continuously for at least 7 years and it is unreasonable to expect you to leave the UK.
- You were born in the UK to someone who has (or is applying for) permission to live in the UK for personal reasons.
- You are between the ages of 18 and 25 and have lived in the UK continuously for more than half your life, or
- You have been in the UK for a continuous period of 20 years and you have no family and private life with your country of nationality.
Private & family life applications
Lawyers for private life visa applications
We are regulated immigration lawyers and we can help you with your private life visa applications within the UK. We can help you with a fixed fee to deal with your immigration matter.
What is article 8 of the european convention on human rights (ECHR)
Private life, as enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), is a general right that is applied to cases in an individual way. It states:
- 8(1) Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home, and his correspondence.
- 8(2) There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety, or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
Article 8 ECHR is a qualified right so as to allow countries to set requirements which properly balance the individual right to respect for private or family life with the public interest in safeguarding the economic well-being of the UK by controlling immigration, in protecting the public from foreign criminals and in protecting the rights and freedoms of others.
Concession for granting longer periods of leave and early indefinite leave to remain
In October 2021 a concession was introduced to grant young adults longer periods of leave and early indefinite leave to remain on the basis of private life. This concession allowed a person who had arrived in the UK as a child to qualify for settlement after 5 years if they had been granted leave on private life or family grounds and had completed 5 years after the age of 18 with such leave. This concession ended when it was incorporated into the Immigration Rules on 20 June 2022 along with the other changes set out in the Background section.
Private life visa applications for children and young adults
The private life route is for a person looking to stay in the UK because they have spent a significant period of time in the UK and built a private and family life. Private life can be established by a person who has spent time in the UK with or without lawful permission and whilst it is normally a 10-year route to settlement, there are justifiable exceptions.
The private life rules allow children and certain young people (who arrived in the UK as children) who qualify for permission to stay on the basis of their private life to settle in the UK after 5 years with permission. The relevant cohorts are:
- children who have been continuously resident in the UK for 7 years and it would not be reasonable for them to leave
- a young adult (aged between 18 and under 25) who arrived in the UK as a child and has spent at least half their life in the UK.
Children and young people have a choice on the duration of their permission and can choose to be granted for either 30 or 60 months. Adults granted permission to stay under the private life rules can settle after 10 years continuous residence and permission will be granted for 30 months.
