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Pathway

UK Adult Dependent Relative Visa

United Kingdom Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

The UK Adult Dependent Relative visa is for an adult who needs long-term personal care from a close relative living permanently in the UK. It is a demanding route and generally requires showing that needed care is not available or affordable in the applicant's country.

Type
Family residence
Sponsor
People joining a qualifying family member in the United Kingdom
Core requirements
Relationship records and the sponsor's status
What to know
Meeting the listed requirements does not guarantee approval; the authority retains discretion
What it gives
Where the sponsor is British or settled, an outside-UK applicant is granted settlement immediately.
Main limit
It is not a retirement, parent sponsorship or convenience route.

Summary

The Adult Dependent Relative (ADR) route is for an adult who needs long-term personal care for everyday tasks because of age, illness or disability and cannot obtain the required care in the country where they live, even with the UK sponsor's financial help. It is deliberately narrower than ordinary financial dependence or a wish to keep an older relative nearby.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The applicant must be 18 or over and be the sponsor's parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister. A parent or grandparent's partner can apply at the same time; only one of the couple needs the care need. The sponsor must be British, Irish or settled, have qualifying pre-settled status, protection status or qualifying stateless permission.

Medical and care evidence must establish the tasks the applicant cannot perform and the likely duration. Country evidence must show that appropriate care is unavailable or unaffordable, not merely less desirable or more expensive than UK family care. The sponsor must prove adequate maintenance, accommodation and care without public funds and sign an undertaking for five years after a settlement grant, or for the temporary-permission period.

For an ordinary application to join a British or settled sponsor, the outside-UK “other dependent relative” fee is £3,635 from 8 April 2026. Different fees or concessions apply to some protection-status and armed-forces sponsors.

Entry clearance normally must be obtained from outside the UK. Switching from a visit or other route is not the normal path.

What This Route Allows

Where the sponsor is British or settled, an outside-UK applicant is granted settlement immediately. Where the sponsor has temporary qualifying status, permission ends with the sponsor's and the ADR can settle when the sponsor does. Temporary permission allows work, self-employment and study but no public funds. There is no English or Life in the UK test for ADR settlement.

What This Route Is Not

It is not a retirement, parent sponsorship or convenience route. Financial dependence alone, age alone, or the absence of a preferred family caregiver is insufficient. The separate BN(O) route has its own adult-dependent provisions.

Next Steps

  1. Obtain a detailed clinical assessment describing each care need and prognosis.
  2. Document searches, prices, availability, location and suitability of care in the home country.
  3. Prove the family link and sponsor's status, housing, income, savings and care plan.
  4. Apply for entry clearance before travel and address why remote financial support cannot solve the need.
Compare your options

Other routes in United Kingdom.

Sources