Sole parental responsibility means that only one person makes decisions about a child’s life. In British immigration, this distinction becomes critical when a parent applies to relocate children to the country: the Home Office requires evidence that the applicant is the only person with full control over the child.

What is parental responsibility

Parental responsibility automatically arises for both biological parents upon the birth of a child. This means they are responsible for making decisions in the child’s life — from day-to-day matters to important choices concerning their education, health and welfare.

Parental responsibility can also be acquired by law. This occurs in court proceedings when a court recognises that another person has assumed this responsibility and has the right to make decisions regarding the child.

Example: mother bringing children from Nigeria

A nurse came to the United Kingdom on a skilled worker visa in 2022, leaving her husband and children in Nigeria. Initially, she could not afford to bring them — there was no accommodation, she was only starting work in a new country and was unsure of her position.

After two or three years, her situation stabilised, and she decided to bring the children over. By that time, her relationship with her husband had broken down. The children no longer live with their father and do not communicate with him. Instead, they live with their grandmother or aunt and are raised according to their mother’s instructions.

In this case, the mother retains sole parental responsibility and custody of the children: they are under her control and are being raised according to her decisions.

Why this matters in immigration cases

Whenever a parent applies for children to enter the United Kingdom as dependants, they must prove to the Home Office that they hold parental responsibility for them. This is required regardless of the visa type: whether the sponsor brings children as dependants on a skilled worker visa, as a dependant of a British citizen, or on other grounds.

When a child is raised by only one parent or guardian and the other is not involved in their life, the applicant must provide evidence of this circumstance.

What the Home Office requires

When the mother applies for the children to relocate, the Home Office requires evidence that she is the only person who holds full parental responsibility, and no one else holds this responsibility.

If the entry clearance officer is not convinced that the other biological parent is not involved in the children’s lives, they may refuse the application. It is at this point that evidence must be provided: documents, correspondence, testimony that confirms the other parent is absent from the children’s lives and that the mother holds sole responsibility for them.