Limited Leave to Remain Student Finance

[karimmehta]

Hi,
I am a parent of two British sons who got citizenship after being born and living in the UK for 5 years as stateless. But I hold an Indian passport and I am getting limited leave to remain 2.5 years renewable visa. I am on my second renewal and they say I need to complete 10 years like this to apply for the PR. I am planning to start studying for my bachelor's degree, will I be able to get student finance? My sons are 6 and 11 years old and hold British passports. Thank you.

[secret.simon]

I am planning to start studying for my bachelor's degree, will I be able to get student finance?

Not if you live in England.

If you do not have ILR, you may qualify on grounds of long residence if

(a) on the first day of the first academic year of the course, you must be either:
(i) under the age of 18 and have lived in the UK throughout the seven-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course; or
(ii) aged 18 years old or above and, preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course, have lived in the UK throughout either:
(aa) half your life; or
(bb) a period of twenty-years;

Also keep in mind that you need to meet the same or similar requirements for you to qualify for Home Student fees. If you don't, you will get charged the international/overseas student fees, even if you live in the UK. And the latter are 2-3 times more expensive than home student fees.

[karimmehta]

Thank you for the reply. We live in England and I came here in 2010. So it's not half of my life or 20 years. So it seems like I'm not eligible for student finance. Some people who have the same visa type as me have applied for the PR after staying 5 years on this visa and got PR, but my solicitor says this is not exactly "parent route", this is something human rights related as both parents are Indians. I don't know how others have got their PR after 5 years rather than waiting for 10 years?

[JimmyR]

@Karimmehta
I know people who were given discretionary leave(3 years). After the second extension, they could be able to apply for ILR. But, I’m not sure if it is exist.

[CR001]

@Karimmehta
I know people who were given discretionary leave(3 years). After the second extension, they could be able to apply for ILR. But, I’m not sure if it is exist.

The 3 year X 2 DLR route was replaced by 2.5 year FLR FP, which is what the user is already on and needs 10 years (4 X 2.5 years) before they can apply for ILR.

[JimmyR]

@Karimmehta
I know people who were given discretionary leave(3 years). After the second extension, they could be able to apply for ILR. But, I’m not sure if it is exist.

The 3 year X 2 DLR route was replaced by 2.5 year FLR FP, which is what the user is already on and needs 10 years (4 X 2.5 years) before they can apply for ILR.

Thanks

[secret.simon]

I don't know how others have got their PR after 5 years rather than waiting for 10 years?

Generally, to get ILR (not PR, which is a different beast altogether) after five years, you need to have spent five continuous years in the UK on certain specific visas (generally Skilled Worker or spousal visas) and it must be the same visa for all five years (i.e. if you were on a Skilled Worker visa and changed to a spousal visa, your clock resets to zero and you will not get ILR after five years).
In this case, as your children are British citizens, it is likely that your visa was issued because it would be in the best interest of the children (i.e. it is not one of the visas that is on a five year pathway to ILR) and thus it would likely be on a ten year pathway to ILR.
Also, as your child was born in the UK, I presume that they were born when you were in the UK on a different visa. As mentioned above, to qualify for ILR on the five year pathway, you need to remain on the same or similar type of visa throughout the five years. If you changed visas from a previous work visa to a parent visa, your ILR clock would have reset anyway.