What is the private life route?

The private life route is a Home Office immigration route that lets a person who has built a private life in the UK apply for permission to stay. It is set out in Appendix Private Life of the Immigration Rules, applies inside the UK only, has separate residence tests for children, young adults and adults and leads to settlement.

How the private life route works

The private life route is for a person who wants permission to stay in the UK because they have developed a private life here. The rules are in Appendix Private Life of the Immigration Rules.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life} Appendix Private Life applies to applications made on or after 20 June 2022. It replaced the earlier private life rules in Part 7. A private life application can only be made inside the UK.^{[2]UK Visas and Immigration, Private life: caseworker guidance}

The idea comes from Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects respect for private and family life. The Home Office guidance describes it as a general right that is applied to each case individually.^{[2]UK Visas and Immigration, Private life: caseworker guidance}

You apply online on GOV.UK, using the form for ‘family life or private life’. We cover other applications on that form on our family and partner visas page. To be valid, an application must meet these requirements.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life} It is valid only if:

• any fee and Immigration Health Charge has been paid, unless a fee waiver has been granted
• you have given your biometrics when required
• you have provided a passport or other document that establishes your identity and nationality
• you are in the UK on the date of application

The applicant must also not fall for refusal under Part Suitability, which we explain under suitability requirements.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

If a person does not meet the residence tests, the rules still require the decision maker to consider whether refusing permission would breach Article 8 on the basis of private life.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

The three residence tests

The test depends on the applicant’s age on the date of application.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

The first row is the seven-year child rule. A young adult who does not meet the half-life test can still apply as an adult.^{[2]UK Visas and Immigration, Private life: caseworker guidance}

For adults with less than 20 years, the guidance says a ‘very significant obstacle’ is something that would prevent or seriously inhibit integration in the country of return. It says the Home Office is looking for more than the usual difficulties of relocating, such as learning a new language or finding work. It calls this a high threshold.^{[2]UK Visas and Immigration, Private life: caseworker guidance}

The continuous residence period has its own rules.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life} It may include time spent in the UK with or without permission. It does not include time in prison or detention after a conviction. It is broken if the applicant:

• has been absent from the UK for more than 6 months at any one time
• has spent a total of 550 days or more outside the UK in the period
• has been removed or deported, or left the UK after an application was refused
• left with no reasonable expectation of being able to return lawfully

Permission, conditions and settlement

A child, or a young adult who meets the half-life test, is granted 30 months or 60 months, depending on what they applied for. Everyone else is granted 30 months.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

Work, including self-employment and voluntary work, is permitted. Study is permitted, subject to the ATAS condition. The permission carries a condition of no recourse to public funds unless the decision maker is satisfied that the applicant is destitute or at risk of destitution, that a relevant child’s welfare outweighs the condition or that exceptional circumstances affect the applicant’s income or spending.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

The route leads to settlement. GOV.UK sets out three cases.^{[3]Home Office, Indefinite leave to remain (private life): Eligibility}

The time on a relevant visa can include a family or private life visa and any visa that leads to indefinite leave. If time on other visas is included, the applicant must have held a private life visa for at least one year on the day they apply.^{[3]Home Office, Indefinite leave to remain (private life): Eligibility} For settlement the applicant must also meet the English language requirement, at level B1 for speaking and listening. For applications made on or after 26 March 2027 the level is B2.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life} People aged 18 to 64 need to pass the Life in the UK Test.^{[3]Home Office, Indefinite leave to remain (private life): Eligibility} The GOV.UK fee for indefinite leave on this route is £3,226 for each person.^{[4]Home Office, Indefinite leave to remain (private life)} Our indefinite leave to remain page covers the other settlement routes.

Example

Priya is 22. She arrived in the UK aged 10 and has lived here continuously for 12 years. That is more than half of her life, so she meets the young adult test. She applies from inside the UK and, if she passes the suitability requirements, she can be granted 30 or 60 months, depending on what she applied for. After a continuous qualifying period of 5 years with permission, she can apply for settlement if she meets the other requirements.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

Kofi is 42. He has lived in the UK continuously for 21 years, including several years without permission. Time without permission counts towards the 20-year residence test, so he meets the adult test. If he passes the suitability requirements, he is granted 30 months. His settlement period is different: the 10 years must be spent with permission.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

What people get wrong

Many people assume that having no immigration permission rules them out. For the residence test it does not, because the period may include time with or without permission. What does break it is absence: more than 6 months at one time, or 550 days or more in total.

Both points come from the rules on continuous residence.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life} A second mistake is to carry the same thinking into settlement. For settlement as an adult, the 10-year qualifying period has to be spent with permission of the kinds the rules list, and time without permission does not count.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

A third mistake is to mix up this route with long residence. The Home Office guidance notes that someone considering the private life route may instead qualify for immediate settlement after 10 years’ long residence under a separate Appendix.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Private Life}

The bottom line

The private life route gives permission to stay to people who have built a life in the UK. It has three residence tests: 7 years for a child, half a life for a young adult and more than 20 years for an adult. Time without permission can count towards the residence test, while long absences break it. The route leads to settlement after 5 years for children and young adults and after 10 years for adults.