Updates, commentary, training and advice on immigration and asylum law

People with EU pre-settled status can sponsor family members under Appendix FM

THANKS FOR READING

Older content is locked

A great deal of time and effort goes into producing the information on Free Movement, become a member of Free Movement to get unlimited access to all articles, and much, much more

TAKE FREE MOVEMENT FURTHER

By becoming a member of Free Movement, you not only support the hard-work that goes into maintaining the website, but get access to premium features;

  • Single login for personal use
  • FREE downloads of Free Movement ebooks
  • Access to all Free Movement blog content
  • Access to all our online training materials
  • Access to our busy forums
  • Downloadable CPD certificates

Since 31 December 2020, the list of people who can sponsor a family member under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules has included those who are “in the UK with limited leave under Appendix EU, in accordance with paragraph GEN 1.3(d)”.

As the name suggests, GEN 1.3(d) is found in the “General” section of Appendix FM. It says:

References to a person being “in the UK with limited leave under Appendix EU” mean an EEA national in the UK who holds valid limited leave to enter or remain granted under paragraph EU3 of Appendix EU to these Rules on the basis of meeting condition 1 in paragraph EU14 of that Appendix.

Condition 1 of paragraph EU14 of Appendix EU is what people have to satisfy to be granted pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. The upshot is that people with pre-settled status can now use Appendix FM to sponsor family members. This applies to all family visa categories covered by Appendix FM, even “parent of a child” applications, as pre-settled status is now a qualifying status for the child’s other parent where the child does not live with the applicant. 

There are also sponsorship provisions for Turkish workers and businesspeople granted limited leave under Appendix ECAA Extension of Stay, but only for partner visas.

Nath did flag these changes at the time, but they were overshadowed by all the Points Based Immigration System changes that were made at the same time, so we thought it was worth highlighting again.

Relevant articles chosen for you
Alex Piletska

Alex Piletska

Alex Piletska is a solicitor at Turpin Miller LLP, an Oxford-based specialist immigration firm where she has worked since 2017. She undertakes a wide range of immigration work, including family migration, Points Based System applications, appeals and Judicial Review. Alex is a co-founder of Ukraine Advice Project UK and sits on the LexisPSL panel of experts and Q&A panel. You can follow her on Twitter at @alexinlaw.

Comments

One Response

  1. My understanding is that the person with Limited Leave to Remain (Pre-Settled Status) must have been resident in the UK before end of December 2020, in order to sponsor someone under Appendix FM. This is contained in E-ECP.2.1. which refers to GEN 1.3.(d) which refers to Condition 1 of para EU14 which requires reference to the definition of “relevant EEA national” (resident in the UK before the “specified date”). This is reflected on this page: https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse where it says the sponsor can “be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status – they must have started living in the UK before 1 January 2021”.