Adult Dependent Relative

Adult Dependent Relative (ADR) is an application that can only be made from outside the UK (when applying to the route for the first time), that allows eligible family members of British citizens and eligible other citizens to enter the UK to be looked after by their UK based family.

In order to be eligible for the route, the applicant must be able to demonstrate that:

• as a result of age, illness or disability they require long term personal care to perform everyday tasks. Such tasks can include (but is not limited to):
  • Cooking
  • Cleaning
  • Getting dressed
  • Showering/ Bathing
  • Walking
• AND, must be unable to obtain the required level of care in the country where they are living, even with the financial help of the sponsor because either:

(a) the care is not available and there is no person in that country who can reasonably provide it: or

(b) the care is not affordable.

Eligible UK based family member (the Sponsor):

If the family member in the UK holds any of the following immigration status’ in the UK, they will be able to sponsor an eligible overseas family member:

• British citizen or
• settled in the UK; or
• in the UK with protection status; or
• an EEA national with limited leave to enter or remain granted under paragraph EU3 of Appendix EU on the basis of meeting condition 1 in paragraph EU14 of that Appendix.

Eligible overseas family members:

An applicant must be related to the Sponsor in one of the following relationships:

• the parent; or
• the grandparent; or
• the son or daughter; or
• the brother or sister

You will need to provide evidence that confirms your family relationship such as birth certificates and family registers. If you do not have these, or if the documents you have do not clearly show the relationship, then you will need to obtain a DNA test.

Financial requirements

The Sponsor must also be able to show that they will be able to look after their family member in the UK without recourse to public funds.

For this application, there is no set minimum level of income that they must earn, instead the calculation is Adequate Maintenance which  is worked out as:

The financial assessment uses a formula: A – B ≥ C, where:

A is the sponsor’s weekly net income (after tax and National Insurance deductions).

B is the weekly housing costs (expenses related to accommodation).

C is the amount of Income Support a British family of the same size would receive.

The Sponsor must also show that there is sufficient space in their home for the family member without amounting to overcrowding.

Evidence

There is no set list of mandatory documents (except for the financial requirement), however medical documents are going to be in credibly important. You will need medical reports, notes, letters.

You will also need to explain what the current arrangement is i.e. how is the overseas family member currently being taken care of and why that arrangement can no longer continue.

The documents needed will be dependent upon your individual circumstances.

Outcome of the application

Applications under this route are only granted in very limited circumstances. In fact, most applications are initially refused, meaning that the majority of cases proceed to appeal stage.

Between 2017 and 2020, 96% of applications were refused.

This route therefore has the high potential of becoming a very long and costly process.

It is therefore extremely advisable that if you believe you may be eligible for this route that you seek legal advice.

If you have any questions on this route, are thinking about making an application or have recently received a refusal, contact our team and one of our immigration advisors will be happy to assist.

By Abigail Gledhill