Pathway for my father who was a UK resident in the 60s

[ceylonspice]

Hello everyone, My father who was from then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was studying and working in the UK from 1961 to 1970 (just a few months under 10 years). There were no immigration controls back then. He then left never to return. He still gets his pension from the UK every month. I will be working in the UK on a Tier 2 for one year with my family and will most probably be extending till 5 years to get my ILR and then citizenship. My father will be 80 soon and despite not having any serious medical issues, is very frail and needs our assistance for day to day tasks. I was looking at the routes for my father and hopefully my mother to join me in the UK. Travelling every 6 months on visit visas will be very arduous and not practical. I was looking at the Windrush Scheme but not so sure if he would be eligible. He has his old passport with all the entry and exit stamps and various letters and certificates during his residence.
If anyone has had any similar experiences, any insights or know any good immigration lawyers with expertise in these sort of cases it would be much appreciated.

[Zerubbabel]

Hello

As a Tier 2, you cannot sponsor your father. Eligible family members are merely the spouse and the children:



https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general/family-members

Your are not settled in the UK. The road ahead is still long for you before being settled. That would open then the option for Adult Dependent Relative visa but even that visa is nearly impossible to get.

I can't vouch for the Windrush Scheme as I am not familiar with its eligibility criteria.

But, regardless of the country, usually it's hard if not impossible to immigrate at 80+

[ceylonspice]

I realise that it would be impossible on the basis of my Tier 2 visa, I was wondering if my father would qualify via right of abode, returning resident, windrush or any other schemes?

[CR001]

I realise that it would be impossible on the basis of my Tier 2 visa, I was wondering if my father would qualify via right of abode, returning resident, windrush or any other schemes?

Unlikely there is a route he would qualify for.

[secret.simon]

I was wondering if my father would qualify via right of abode, returning resident, windrush or any other schemes?

Assuming that he entered the UK on the basis of a Ceylonese passport, he would not be eligible for Right of Abode. He would have been eligible (and would have become a British citizen in 1983) if he was a Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies at the time. The only way for a non-CUKC Commonwealth citizen to acquire Right of Abode was to have at least one parent or grandparent born in the UK as currently constituted.

See Section 2 of the Immigration Act 1971 as enacted.

Returning resident visa is only possible if he had ILR in his passport at the time that he left. Did he have a stamp denoting ILR in his passports?

In addition, it requires you to prove the applicant's strong ties to the UK and the reasons for his absence from the UK. Since your father has been absent from the UK for more than half his life (about 50 years), it would be very hard, verging on impossible, to prove his strong ties to the UK.

See the Returning Resident guidance on how Home Office caseworkers would assess the application. There are some examples that you can refer to.

The Windrush scheme is oriented towards people who arrived in the UK decades ago and continued to reside in the UK, but without documentation stating their right to reside in the UK. I am not sure that your father would qualify. People outside the UK would be assessed on the same basis as Returning Residents above.

You can look into whether he registered to become a CUKC while he was in the UK. It would have been a process that he would have had to apply for (i.e. it would not have been automatic) and he would have received a certificate of registration if he was successful. Check with him whether he has any recollection of doing so. You can also check with the National Archives at Kew.

[ceylonspice]

Thanks for the replies everyone, is there anyone with any experience with getting residence for an elder who was a UK resident in the 60s and still drawing a UK pension?

[Zerubbabel]

Thanks for the replies everyone, is there anyone with any experience with getting residence for an elder who was a UK resident in the 60s and still drawing a UK pension?

The UK, as most countries in the world, doesn't encourage incoming immigration of elderly people. Seen as a demography (not case per case), they incur very high cost to NHS and other public services with little contribution to the tax bucket.

That's why, when it comes to individual cases, you will find there are no viable routes within the immigration system.

If you search, you may find cases, but they won't be applicable to your own situation:

- ADR visa but you can't sponsor that as you are not settled (you don't have a permanent residence). And ADR carries a high rate of refusal anyway. So even if you were settled, your chances would've been still very low for an ADR

- EEA routes. They offer much wider/easier options. But neither yourself or your father are EEA nationals or have anything to qualify under these routes.