Short answer
The UK parent visa lets a parent join a child who lives in the UK and who is under 18, or was under 18 when the parent was first granted leave. The child must be a British or Irish citizen, settled, or hold pre-settled status. You need sole or shared parental responsibility, and where it is shared, the child’s other parent must not be your partner. As of 31 October 2026 the fee from outside the UK is £2,064 and the grant is two years and nine months. There is no £29,000 income rule on this route, only a requirement to maintain and accommodate yourself without public funds.
What is the UK parent visa?
It is the Appendix FM route for a parent of a child who is living in the UK. The point of it is contact between a parent and a minor child, not family reunion in general. That single fact explains most of the conditions attached to it.
Because the route exists to protect a child’s relationship with a parent who is not living with them, the rules assume the parents are not a couple. If they are, the family is expected to use the partner route instead. Pakistani families often come to this guide looking for a way to bring a whole household together and find the opposite: a narrow route for one parent, with a bar on using it while you are with the child’s other parent.
What it is not
- It is not a route for a parent joining an adult son or daughter. That is the adult dependent relative route, with a far harder test.
- It is not a route for the parent of a child studying in the UK on a student visa. The child’s status has to be British, Irish, settled or pre-settled.
- It is not a shortcut around the partner route. A couple who are together apply as partners, under the spouse rules and the £29,000 income requirement.
What does the rule say about the child?
Four things: the child’s age, where they live, their immigration status, and their own marital status. All four have to line up before anything else matters.
Age
As of 31 October 2026, the gov.uk parent page says your child must either be under 18 on the date you apply, or have been under 18 when you were first granted leave. The second limb is what lets a parent already on this route extend after the child turns 18. It does not open the route to a parent applying for the first time once the child is already an adult.
Where the child lives
The child must be living in the UK, and must live with you unless they are living away from home in full-time education. A child who is in Pakistan, or who moves between the two countries, does not support this application.
The child’s status
One of the following must be true of the child.
- they are a British or Irish citizen;
- they have settled in the UK;
- they are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status, having started living in the UK before 1 January 2021;
- or, if you are applying from inside the UK, they have lived in the UK for seven years continuously and it would not be reasonable for them to leave.
Read that last line carefully. The gov.uk page attaches the seven-year limb to applications made in the UK. A parent applying from Pakistan is working with the first three.
The child’s own status
The child must not be married or in a civil partnership. It is a short condition that almost never bites, but it is in the rule.
Sole or shared parental responsibility, and the bar that catches people
You need to have sole or shared parental responsibility for your child. That is the easy half. The harder half is what the rule attaches to shared responsibility.
The partner bar
As of 31 October 2026, the gov.uk parent page says that if you share parental responsibility, the child’s other parent must not be your partner. The other parent must also be a British or Irish citizen, settled in the UK, or an EU national with pre-settled status who started living in the UK before 1 January 2021.
So a married couple in Pakistan with a British child cannot use this route to move the family. One parent cannot apply as a parent while living with the other. The route they are looking for is the partner route, where the British or settled spouse sponsors the Pakistani spouse and the income requirement applies.
I see this misunderstanding more than any other on UK family files. A family reads that there is no £29,000 requirement on the parent route, decides that is the cheaper door, and does not notice the sentence that closes it to them.
| Your situation | The route | The financial test |
|---|---|---|
| You are with the child’s other parent, who is British or settled | Partner route, child as a dependant where applicable | Specified gross annual income of at least £29,000 |
| You are separated, the child lives in the UK and is British or settled | Parent route | Adequate maintenance and accommodation without public funds |
| You are engaged to a British or settled partner, not yet married | Fiancé or proposed civil partner route | Specified gross annual income of at least £29,000 |
| You are an elderly parent needing care from an adult child | Adult dependent relative route | Sponsor undertaking, no public funds, higher fee |
Access to the child, and the active role
Where the child does not live with you, the rules want proof of two things: that you have the right to see the child, and that you use it.
Access in person
The gov.uk page says that if the child lives with their other parent or carer, you must have access to the child in person, as agreed with the other parent or carer or by a court order. A verbal arrangement is hard to evidence. A written agreement signed by both parents, or an order of a court, is what the file needs.
The active role
The page also requires you to prove that you are taking an active role in your child’s upbringing and that you plan to continue after you apply. This is where most parent applications are actually won or lost, and it is evidence rather than argument.
- a record of regular contact: calls, video calls, messages, visits;
- money sent for the child, through a traceable channel;
- contact with the school, where the school will confirm you are a named parent;
- involvement in medical appointments or decisions;
- travel evidence for visits to the UK, and the visas those visits were made on;
- a letter from the other parent or carer describing the arrangement, where they are willing to write one.
A single letter saying you love your child is not evidence of an active role. Two years of traceable contact is.
How long does it last, and when can you settle?
As of 31 October 2026, the gov.uk parent page says you can stay in the UK for 2 years and 9 months on this visa. If you extend a family visa or switch to this visa from inside the UK, the grant is 2 years and 6 months.
The five years
The page says the earliest you can apply to settle in the UK, which it calls indefinite leave to remain, is after you have lived in the UK for five years continuously on a family visa as a parent. So the ordinary shape of the route is a first grant of two years and nine months, one extension of two years and six months, and then settlement.
| Stage | Where you apply | Length granted | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| First grant | Outside the UK | 2 years 9 months | £2,064 |
| Extension or switch | Inside the UK | 2 years 6 months | £1,407 |
| Settlement | Inside the UK, after 5 continuous years | Indefinite | See the gov.uk settlement page |
Is there a minimum income requirement?
No, and this is the one way the parent route is easier than the partner route. There is no £29,000 figure here. What there is instead is a test with no published number, which is a different kind of difficulty.
What the rule says
Paragraph E-ECPT.3.1 of Appendix FM requires the applicant to provide evidence that they will be able to adequately maintain and accommodate themselves and any dependants in the UK without recourse to public funds. The gov.uk parent page words the test as being able to financially support yourself without claiming public funds, and adds that the caseworker uses your income and housing costs to check whether you can.
Neither the rule nor the public page prints a pound figure for this route. I am not going to invent one. What the wording tells you is the shape of the sum: income on one side, housing costs on the other, and enough left over to live on. Build the file to answer that question directly.
What to put in front of the caseworker
- your own income, if you have work or a business, with bank statements rather than a letter;
- where someone else supports you, who they are, what they earn and their commitment in writing, with their own statements;
- the housing costs: rent or mortgage, the tenancy or mortgage statement, and the bills;
- who else lives in the property and how many rooms it has, because accommodation that is overcrowded is not adequate;
- savings, with statements showing them held rather than deposited last week.
The gov.uk information and evidence page lists what counts as income across the family routes: UK employment income before tax, UK self-employment or director income through Self Assessment, cash savings above £16,000, pension income, and non-work income such as property rental or dividends.
What English do you need?
At least level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for a first visa application. The gov.uk parent page words the requirement as a good knowledge of English and links to the level.
Pakistan is not among the majority English-speaking countries listed as exempt on the gov.uk knowledge of English page, so most Pakistani parents take an approved secure English language test in speaking and listening. The alternatives are a UK degree, or a non-UK degree taught in English with an Ecctis assessment.
Exemptions exist for children, for people over 65, for people with a physical or mental condition that prevents them meeting the requirement, for adults coming to be cared for by a relative, and for people already on a five-year family visa extending as a partner or parent. Being a parent does not by itself exempt you from the first test.
What does it cost?
As of 31 October 2026, the gov.uk family visas overview lists £2,064 to apply from outside the UK and £1,407 to apply in the UK, with each dependant charged £2,064 each from outside the UK. The Home Office fee table published for 8 October 2026 carries the same £2,064 route to settlement line and records no change taking effect on that date.
The health surcharge
The immigration health surcharge is £1,035 a year for an adult and £776 a year for an applicant under 18. For the two years and nine months this visa is granted for, the gov.uk overview lists £3,105 per adult and £2,328 for each child under 18.
| Line | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee, outside the UK | £2,064 | Route to settlement line |
| Health surcharge, adult, 2 years 9 months | £3,105 | £1,035 a year |
| Health surcharge, child under 18, same period | £2,328 | £776 a year |
| Each dependant’s application, outside the UK | £2,064 each | From the gov.uk overview |
| Priority service | £500 extra | Family cases usually 30 working days |
| Super priority service | £1,000 extra | Availability depends on the application centre |
Timing
The gov.uk parent page says that if you apply outside the UK you will usually get a decision within 12 weeks. Paying for priority does not reduce a family case to five working days: gov.uk says family visa applications made from outside the UK usually take 30 working days under that service.
What documents do you need?
Group them the way a caseworker reads them: the child, the relationship, the contact, the money.
The child
- the child’s birth certificate, naming you, translated if it is a Pakistani certificate;
- the child’s British passport, Irish passport, settled status proof or pre-settled status share code;
- evidence of where the child lives, such as a school letter;
- evidence that the child lives with the other parent or carer, where they do.
Parental responsibility and contact
- any court order dealing with contact or residence;
- a written access agreement with the other parent or carer;
- the contact record described above, across months not weeks;
- proof of money sent for the child;
- where the parents are separated or divorced, the divorce deed or Union Council certificate, translated.
You, and the money
- your passport and CNIC;
- your English language certificate at A1 or above;
- your income evidence, with bank statements covering the same months;
- the accommodation evidence, including rooms and occupants;
- where a third party supports you, their statements and a signed letter of support.
When is this the wrong route?
Four situations come up again and again in Pakistani families, and in three of them the parent visa is not the answer.
You are still with the child’s other parent
Closed, where responsibility is shared, by the sentence that says the other parent must not be your partner. Apply as a partner.
Your child is in the UK on a student visa
Not this route. The child must be British, Irish, settled or pre-settled. A parent of a Pakistani student in the UK does not become eligible because the student is under 18. If you are researching study routes for your own child, the study in the UK guide sets out what a student visa does and does not allow.
Your child is an adult
A parent applying for the first time needs a child who is under 18 on the date of application. An elderly parent coming to be cared for by an adult son or daughter is on the adult dependent relative route, where the fee is £3,635 and the care test is strict.
You want to visit, not to live
A parent who wants to see a child for a few weeks is looking at a visit visa, which is cheaper, faster and does not lead to settlement. The UK visit visa guide covers that route and the evidence it needs.
How do you apply, step by step?
The order matters here more than on most routes, because the first two checks can end the matter before you spend anything.
Check the child’s age and status
The child must be living in the UK and must either be under 18 on the date you apply, or have been under 18 when you were first granted leave. They must be a British or Irish citizen, settled in the UK, or an EU, Swiss, Norwegian, Icelandic or Liechtenstein national with pre-settled status who started living in the UK before 1 January 2021.
Establish sole or shared parental responsibility
You need sole or shared parental responsibility for the child. If you share it, the child’s other parent must not be your partner, and that other parent must themselves be a British or Irish citizen, settled, or an EU national with pre-settled status who started living in the UK before 1 January 2021.
Document your access to the child
If the child lives with their other parent or carer, you must have access to the child in person, as agreed with that parent or carer or ordered by a court. Gather the agreement or the court order, and the evidence of contact that shows it is real.
Show you are taking an active role in the upbringing
The rules ask you to prove that you are taking an active role in your child’s upbringing and that you plan to continue after you apply. School records, medical appointments, money sent for the child and a record of regular contact all speak to this better than a letter does.
Prepare the maintenance and accommodation evidence
Paragraph E-ECPT.3.1 requires evidence that you can adequately maintain and accommodate yourself and any dependants in the UK without recourse to public funds. There is no published pound figure for this route. The caseworker looks at your income against your housing costs, so prepare both sides of that sum.
Sit the English test at A1
A first family visa application needs at least CEFR level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Pakistan is not on the exempt list of majority English-speaking countries, so take an approved secure English language test, or rely on a UK degree or a degree taught in English with an Ecctis assessment.
Apply from outside the UK and give biometrics
Apply online on gov.uk for a family visa as a parent. The fee from outside the UK is £2,064, and the healthcare surcharge for the two years and nine months granted is £3,105 for an adult. Book the visa application centre appointment, give biometrics and submit the documents listed in your application.
What goes wrong most often?
Choosing this route to avoid the £29,000
The commonest error by a distance. A couple who are together cannot use the parent route to sidestep the partner income requirement, because the rule bars it where responsibility is shared. The application fails and the fee is gone.
Treating the child’s immigration status as a detail
The child being in the UK is not enough. They must be British, Irish, settled, or hold pre-settled status, with the seven-year limb reserved for in-UK applications. Check the child’s status document before anything else.
No evidence of contact, only a statement of love
The active role requirement is evidential. Files with no call records, no traceable money and no school contact lose, however genuine the relationship is.
Assuming no income figure means no financial test
There is no published figure, which is not the same as no requirement. The maintenance and accommodation test still has to be answered, and an applicant with no income, no sponsor and no housing evidence has not answered it.
Overcrowded accommodation
Adequate accommodation excludes housing that is or will be overcrowded. A room in a house already full is a weak point that is easy to see coming and hard to fix after a refusal.
Applying from outside the UK on the seven-year limb
The gov.uk page ties the seven-year residence option to applications made in the UK. Building an application from Pakistan on it misreads the page.
A realistic example
This is a hypothetical illustration, not a real client. Nadia is 34 and lives in Sialkot. Her son Ayaan is nine, a British citizen, and lives in Manchester with his father, from whom Nadia is divorced. Nadia has shared parental responsibility and a contact order from a UK court.
- The first check. Ayaan is under 18, lives in the UK and is British. His father is a British citizen and is not Nadia’s partner. The route is open.
- Eight months before applying. Nadia begins sending money for Ayaan through her bank rather than with relatives, so there is a record. She asks the school to add her as a named parent.
- Six months before. She gathers the contact order, a written statement from Ayaan’s father confirming the arrangement, and a year of call logs and video call records.
- Four months before. She passes an approved English test at A1. Her brother in Manchester, who will house her, provides his tenancy agreement, his payslips, the number of rooms and a signed letter of support.
- Application. She applies from Pakistan, pays £2,064 and the £3,105 health surcharge for two years and nine months, gives biometrics in Lahore and submits the file.
- Decision. It arrives inside the 12 weeks gov.uk quotes. The grant is two years and nine months, with settlement possible after five continuous years on the route.
The strength of that file is not the court order on its own. It is that the order, the money, the school and the call records all describe the same relationship.
The version that goes wrong
Now a different family. Imran and his wife live in Gujrat with their seven-year-old daughter, who holds a British passport through her mother. An agent tells Imran to apply as a parent, because there is no £29,000 requirement on that route. The agent does not mention that the child’s other parent, Imran’s wife, cannot be his partner for the purposes of that rule, or that the child must already be living in the UK. Imran pays £2,064 and the surcharge. The application does not meet the rule it was built on. The money is spent, a refusal now sits on the family’s record, and the partner application they should have made in the first place has become a harder conversation.
Key takeaways
- The parent route is for a parent of a child in the UK who is under 18 on the date of application, or was under 18 at the first grant of leave.
- The child must be a British or Irish citizen, settled, or hold pre-settled status having started living in the UK before 1 January 2021.
- Where parental responsibility is shared, the child’s other parent must not be your partner, which closes the route to couples who are together.
- If the child lives with the other parent or carer, you must have access in person, agreed between you or ordered by a court.
- There is no £29,000 income rule here. Paragraph E-ECPT.3.1 requires adequate maintenance and accommodation without recourse to public funds, with no published figure.
- As of 31 October 2026 the fee is £2,064 from outside the UK, with a £3,105 health surcharge for the two years and nine months granted.
- A first application needs CEFR level A1 English, and Pakistan is not on the exempt list.
- Settlement is possible after five continuous years in the UK on a family visa as a parent.
Frequently asked questions
Who can apply for a UK parent visa?
A parent of a child who is living in the UK and who is either under 18 on the date you apply, or was under 18 when you were first granted leave. The child must be a British or Irish citizen, settled in the UK, or an EU, Swiss, Norwegian, Icelandic or Liechtenstein national with pre-settled status who started living in the UK before 1 January 2021. You need sole or shared parental responsibility.
Can I apply if I am still with my child’s other parent?
Not on this route, where you share parental responsibility. The gov.uk parent page says that if you share parental responsibility, the child’s other parent must not be your partner. A couple who are together apply as partners instead, with the child as a dependant where that applies. This is the single most common reason a parent application is the wrong choice.
What if my child lives with their other parent?
Then you must have access to the child in person, as agreed with the other parent or carer or ordered by a court. A written agreement or a court order is the starting point, and the contact evidence has to show that the access actually happens. The rules also ask you to prove you are taking an active role in the child’s upbringing and plan to continue.
How long is the UK parent visa granted for?
As of 31 October 2026, the gov.uk parent page says you can stay in the UK for 2 years and 9 months on this visa. If you extend a family visa or switch to this visa from inside the UK, the grant is 2 years and 6 months. The earliest you can apply for indefinite leave to remain is after five continuous years in the UK on a family visa as a parent.
How much does it cost from Pakistan?
The gov.uk family visas overview lists £2,064 to apply from outside the UK and £1,407 to apply in the UK, with each dependant charged £2,064 each from outside the UK. The Home Office fee table published for 8 October 2026 shows the same £2,064 route to settlement line and no change on that date. The healthcare surcharge for 2 years and 9 months is listed at £3,105 for an adult and £2,328 for a child under 18.
Is there a minimum income requirement like the £29,000 for partners?
No. The parent route uses a different test. Paragraph E-ECPT.3.1 of Appendix FM requires evidence that you can adequately maintain and accommodate yourself and any dependants in the UK without recourse to public funds. No pound figure is published for it. The gov.uk page says the caseworker uses your income and housing costs to check whether you can support yourself.
What English level do I need?
At least level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for your first visa application. Pakistan is not on the gov.uk list of majority English-speaking countries that are exempt, so most Pakistani applicants take an approved secure English language test in speaking and listening. A UK degree, or a degree taught in English with an Ecctis assessment, can be used instead.
How long does a decision take?
The gov.uk parent page says that if you apply outside the UK you will usually get a decision within 12 weeks. The priority service costs an extra £500 and the super priority service £1,000, but gov.uk also says family visa applications made from outside the UK usually take 30 working days under the priority service.
Can my child be a dependant on my parent visa?
The child you are applying to join is the reason for the visa, not a dependant on it. Other children of yours are a separate question, and the overview prices each dependant at £2,064 from outside the UK. Because the maintenance test looks at the whole household, adding dependants raises what you have to evidence. Work out the full picture before you apply.
My child has lived in the UK for seven years but is not British. Can I apply?
That option exists, but the gov.uk page attaches it to applications made inside the UK. It says that if you are applying in the UK, the child must have lived in the UK for seven years continuously and it must not be reasonable for them to leave. A parent applying from Pakistan is reading the other limb of the rule, where the child is British or Irish, settled, or holds pre-settled status.
Is this the route for a parent joining an adult child in the UK?
No. The parent route is about a parent coming to a child who is under 18, or who was under 18 at the first grant. An elderly parent who needs care from an adult son or daughter in the UK is looking at the adult dependent relative route instead, which has a much harder care test and a higher fee.
Can Ch. Bilal Rasheed help with a UK parent visa?
In part. A consultation can be booked in Lahore, on WhatsApp or by phone, and as an immigration advisor in Pakistan he can go through the family documents, the court papers and the maintenance evidence. He is not registered with the UK Immigration Advice Authority, formerly the OISC, so for advice on the application itself you may need a regulated UK adviser or solicitor. No one can guarantee a visa.
