Back to Personal Immigration

If you do not have valid leave to remain in the UK you can, under certain circumstances, apply for leave to remain in the UK on the basis of your private and family life. Human Rights arguments can also be raised as a secondary grounds in other types of applications and there is a duty for applicants to tell the Home Office about all circumstances that might justify granting leave to remain.

There may also be exceptional and compelling circumstances that mean you can apply for further leave on human rights grounds, such as falling ill whilst in the UK and needing to complete an urgent course of medical treatment.

Please note that, whilst making Human Rights arguments usually leads to a right of appeal if submissions are not accepted, you cannot simply repeat arguments that have already been made. There is a requirement that substantially new arguments or evidence are presented. 

Family claims

If you are the partner of a British or settled person or the parent of British or settled children, it is possible to able to argue that not giving you leave to remain in the UK would be a disproportionate interference with the family life that you have established. This may be affected by matter such as your conduct in the UK, for example how long you have been here or if you have a criminal record.

Making representations of this nature requires a collaborative approach with your solicitor, who will need to put forward a clear history of your residence and communications to the UK. This can then be used to show how family members and other loved ones might be impacted should you be asked to depart the UK.

We will work with you to create a picture of your life in the UK, collating documents showing your length of residence, the nature of your connections to the UK and the impact on your loved ones of removal. Successful applicants are given 30 months of leave to remain on a 10-year route to settlement.

Private life claims

You can argue for leave to remain on the basis of your private life here if:

  • You have been in the UK for over 20 years
  • You are a child under 18, have lived here for at least 7 years and it would not be reasonable to expect you to leave
  • You are a young person aged 18-25 who has lived in the UK for at least half of their life
  • You are over 18, have spent less than 20 years in the UK, but there would be significant obstacles to reintegration to the country you would be removed to

As above, we can work with you to get evidence of these facts and make an application to the Home Office.