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Hi everyone,
I’m hoping to get some advice regarding the “sole responsibility” route for ILR. Here’s my situation:
I’m 20 years old now. I came to the UK at 17 on a five-year Global Talent dependent visa, and I’ve been living solely with my mum ever since. My mum has already obtained her Indefinite Leave to Remain, so we’re now looking into the sole-responsibility route for me to apply for ILR as well.
We’ve gathered some evidence, and my parents also finalized their divorce earlier this year. However, my concern is that I’m now over 18. Although the official guidance says that as long as I was under 18 at the time of entry, I’m still eligible, I can’t help feeling that my age might complicate things.
Has anyone been in a similar situation and successfully obtained ILR through this route? Or does anyone have any advice or insight they could share?

Under the immigration rules, dependant children under 18 can ONLY settle when both parents settle. The exception to this rule says that such a child can settle only with one parent as long as that parent demonstrate 'sole responsibility' for that child. This basically means showing that the other parent is not involved is the child's life.

Dependant applicants above 18 should demonstrate that they are not leading an independent life. The rules say:

‘Must not be leading an independent life’ or ‘is not leading an independent life’
means that the applicant does not have a partner (as defined in paragraph GEN.1.2.
of Appendix FM), is living with their parents (except where they are at boarding
school, college or university as part of their full-time education), is not employed fulltime (unless aged 18 years or over), is wholly or mainly dependent upon their parents for financial support (unless aged 18 years or over), and is wholly or mainly
dependent upon their parents for emotional support

Have both of your parents settled in the UK ?

Only my mum has obtained ILR. My dad has always been in China, and he and my mum are now divorced, so my mum and I plan to demonstrate that she has had sole responsibility for my upbringing.

Note that sole parental responsibility means that one parent has abdicated or abandoned parental responsibility, and the remaining parent is exercising sole control in setting and providing the day-to-day direction for the child’s welfare.

There are specific factors that will be considered in assessing sole responsibility:

•Whether the parents are married/in a civil partnership
•If the marriage/civil partnership is dissolved – which parent was awarded legal custody
•If the sponsoring parent has migrated to the UK – how long have they been separated from the child and what relationship they have with the child
•If the sponsoring parent has migrated to the UK, the nature of the child’s care arrangements before and after they migrated
•Who bears the child’s maintenance costs and at what proportion
•Who makes the important decisions about the child’s upbringing, for example, where the child lives, which school they attend, etc

The immigration rules cover this in detail under Appendix Children: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... e_parental

You are not considering whether the child’s parent (or anyone else) has day-to-day responsibility for the child, but whether the parent has continuing sole control and direction of the child’s upbringing, including making all the important decisions in the child’s life. If not, then they do not have sole parental responsibility for the child. You must carefully consider each application on a case-by-case basis. The burden of proof is on the applicant to provide satisfactory evidence that a parent has sole parental responsibility.

For entry clearance cases, it may be necessary to use local intelligence relating to the applicant’s home country or location to advise on what evidence you should expect to see, or what is likely to be available that you could reasonably ask for, as well as how much weight to give to particular types of evidence. Country-specific information can be found in the country of origin information or via the relevant UK embassy or high commission staff.