LEAVE TO REMAIN
LEAVE TO REMAIN
Expert Leave to Remain Solicitors London
To stay in the UK for a period of time, you will need some type of leave to remain. This could be limited leave to remain, granted by the issuing of an approved UK visa, or discretionary leave to remain, granted on compassionate grounds or in exceptional circumstances.
After you have been in the UK for a lengthy period of time, such as five years or ten years, you may be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain, covered on our ILR page.
At David Tang Solicitors, we can advise you on the best way to secure leave to remain in the UK for your circumstances. This includes assessing your situation and advising on the right visa, checking you have sufficient evidence in support and putting together a robust visa application on your behalf.
We are immigration experts with a high level of experience in securing leave to remain for our clients, including in complex and challenging cases. Our clients trust us to obtain the leave they and their families need to live, work and study in the UK.
We offer our services in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Limited leave to remain
Limited leave to remain in the UK is granted by the issuing of a visa. It is important to apply for the right visa for your situation as the rights granted may be more advantageous with some visas than others. For example, you may be able to stay longer or be on track to eventually apply for indefinite leave to remain with some visas.
As well as visa applications, we also deal with extensions to visas for those wishing to continue to live in the UK and switching to a different visa.
Discretionary leave to remain (DL)
Discretionary leave to remain can be granted by the Home Office to individuals in exceptional circumstances. It only applies to those who provide evidence of exceptional compassionate circumstances or there are other compelling reasons to grant leave on a discretionary basis. There are generally no set criteria to be met to be eligible for discretionary leave and it is a way of allowing someone to be in the UK when they may not meet the criteria for an application under the rules or asylum claim. However, several other factors may affect the consideration of the application such as previous criminal history and therefore, you are strongly recommended to seek the correct advice before applying.
It is only used where no other options are available. If someone could otherwise apply for a visa or claim asylum or humanitarian protection, they should consider this instead. Discretionary leave to remain can be used in cases where the authorities feel that it would be unjustifiably harsh for someone to have to leave the UK and where they would face insurmountable obstacles if required to leave.
This could be where there are serious medical needs, where the individual is an unaccompanied child, where a close family member relies on their care or if an asylum seeker does not otherwise qualify to stay in the UK but their particular circumstances are exceptional and should be dealt with compassionately.
Securing discretionary leave to remain is not easy and you are strongly advised to speak to an expert immigration solicitor.
Our leave to remain experts will be able to discuss whether this is a viable option for you or whether there may be another route to staying in the UK that is easier to achieve.
Leave outside the Immigration Rules (LOTR)
Leave outside the rules may be granted at the discretion of Home Office caseworkers if a decision to refuse leave would breach Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Article 8 states that everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life.
This type of leave is only granted where there are exceptional and compassionate grounds on which to allow it, such as when someone has been the victim of modern slavery or they are seriously ill. The Home Office will look to see whether a refusal would result in ‘unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their family’.
Leave outside the rules is likely to be granted only for the period necessary to deal with the exceptional circumstances. This means that the stay granted could be relatively short.
LOTR is different to discretionary leave to remain. DL will not be granted if a claim can be made on the basis of Article 8 and leave outside the rules. We can advise you as to whether you have potential grounds for an LOTR claim and, if not, whether we can make a DL request on your behalf.
For information on our pricing, please see our Immigration costs page.
Contact our leave to remain solicitors in London today
If you would like to discuss applying for leave to remain in the UK, we will be happy to hear from you.
To speak to one of our leave to remain lawyers in London, call us on 020 74394675, email us at david@davidtang.co.uk or fill in our contact form.