Private Life effective from 29 July 2025

Under the new rules, children who have lived in the UK for seven years will now qualify for settlement after five years. 

Continuous Residence requirements for a child born in the UK applying for settlement on the Private Life route, the period of continuous residence may include time spent in the UK with or without permission.

 This development is of great utility to families with young children, and young people who came to the UK at an earlier age and are looking to make the UK their permanent home.

Additionally, young people granted permission in the UK on the basis of their family or private life before 20 June 2022 to settle under the five-year private life rules, will now be allowed to settle under the five year private life rules, provided they meet the half-life test at the date of application or met it in a previous application. The half-life test is where a person was aged between 18 and 25 at the date of the application, arrived in the UK before turning 18, and spent at least half of their life continuously in the UK.