Hi Everyone,

My wife has her ILR in the UK and is pregnant with our first child. We would like her mother to be here for the birth and will be applying for a visit visa for both of her parents.

The issue is, my wife's parents are the full time carers of our 2 year old niece. Would we be able to get our niece a visit visa or would she be unable to apply without her mother?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Hello yes she may apply.

See Special Visitor: Child visitors, in particular VAT3.4 Parent/Guardian consent

The UK Border Agency has a duty of care for child welfare under Section 55 of the Borders Citizenship and Immigration Act. It is therefore imperative that the ECO is fully satisfied with the reception and care arrangements in the UK for the child. Border Force staff will also need to be fully satisfied that the child's welfare needs are still met once the child arrives in the UK.In the first instance, the ECO needs to establish and record that the parent/guardian is in the home country and that the parent/guardian agrees to the child travelling to the UK.

The ECO should therefore expect to see:

• A letter of consent from a parent or legal guardian consenting to the arrangements for their travel to, reception and care while in the UK............

So your in laws will need to provide either evidence that they are the child's legal guardians or a letter of consent from one (or both) of the child's parents.