Immigration Corner | Visiting a minor studying in the UK

Dear Mr Bassie,

My child has been accepted to study in the United Kingdom (UK) on a Tier 4 Visa. He is very young and I would like to know whether I will be able to obtain a visa to visit him from time to time? Thanks for your advice in advance.

PV

Dear PV,

Persons can apply for a Parent of Tier 4 child visa if the child attends an independent fee-paying day school in the UK; the parent is from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland; and he/she meets other eligibility requirements.

Persons can apply for a visa up to three months before the date of travel to the UK and should get a decision on the visa application within three weeks. It is best to check the guide processing times online to find out how long getting a visa might take in the country from where the application originates.

A Parent of a Tier 4 child visa costs £516 and this visa usually lasts for either six or 12 months. After that, persons can get extensions for 12 months at a time until the child reaches 12 years of age.

Persons will be given a shorter visa and will not be able to extend that visa if the child is going to have their 12th birthday in the next 12 months or finish their final year at school in the next 12 months. Persons should be aware that they must leave the UK when their visa expires in either case and cannot switch to a different visa category. If the child is staying in education in the UK without the parent, arrangements must be made for their ongoing care.

The successful applicant can extend the visa for 12 months at a time, as long as he/she continues to meet the eligibility requirements. However, he/she cannot switch into a different immigration category from a ‘Parent of a Tier 4 child visa’ when it expires. He/she cannot get public funds or make their main home in the United Kingdom. Those persons are not permitted to take paid work, study and/or take other family members (‘dependents’) with them on their application. Those persons must apply separately.

To be eligible for a Parent of a Tier 4 child visa persons must have enough money to support themselves and any dependents while over there; maintain a second home outside the UK; plan to leave the UK at the end of their visit; and be able to meet the cost of the return or onward journey.

In addition, the applicant’s child must be under 12 years of age and be studying at or about to start studying at an independent fee-paying day school in the UK. The applicant’s child must have a Tier 4 (Child) visa or be in the category ‘students in the UK under the immigration rules in place before 31 March 2009’.

When applying persons will need to provide a current passport or other valid travel identification and their tuberculosis test results if they are from a country where a test has to be taken.

Persons will need to have a blank page in their passport on which to put the visa and they will also have to provide documents that prove they have a permanent home outside the UK and that they have money to support themselves and their children or have relatives or friends that will support him/her and them while over there.

Those persons will need to show they have booked or can afford travel to leave the UK at the end of the stay. They will need to provide a certified translation of any documents that are not in English or Welsh and may need to provide additional documents depending on their circumstances. Persons are advised to read the guide online for a full list of documents they can provide.

When applying from outside the UK, persons must apply online for a Parent of a Tier 4 child visa.

Those persons will need to have their fingerprints and photograph, known as ‘biometric information’, taken at a visa application centre as part of their application. It should be noted that persons can only extend their visa if they are already in the UK.

Good luck.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practices law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email:lawbassie@yahoo.com