England: HE fee status

The requirements for this category were different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023. So it is important you look at category 2b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course);

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (a) in category 2a. They say that if you (or your parent, spouse or civil partner) is recognised by the UK Government as a refugee after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (a).

and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins) you must be:

• a refugee recognised by the UK Government; or
• the spouse / civil partner of such a refugee and you must have been the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which their asylum application was made; or
• the child of such a refugee or of a refugee's spouse or civil partner and at the time the refugee made the asylum application you must have been the under-18-year-old child of the refugee or of the refugee's spouse or civil partner;

and

(c) you have not ceased to be ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands:

• since you were recognised as a refugee; or
• if you are a spouse / civil partner, or child, of a refugee, since you were given leave to remain in the UK.

Expiry date for refugee permission to stay

The refugee permission to stay might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a refugee while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a 'refugee recognised by the UK Government' for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent or spouse or civil partner is, recognised as a refugee after the start of the course, you will be entitled to 'home' fees from the start of the next academic year if you meet the requirements above.

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

The Immigration Rules revoke someone's Refugee Status once s/he subsequently obtains a new nationality, eg when a refugee gains British citizenship. If you have, or a relevant family member has, Refugee Status and you are, or the person with that status is, considering applying for British (or any other) citizenship, you should be aware that such an application could have an effect on your fees status or your eligibility for Student Support.

The requirements for this category will become a little more generous on 1 August 2023, so look at category 2a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.


In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be:

• a refugee recognised by the UK Government; or
• the spouse / civil partner of such a refugee and you must have been the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which their asylum application was made; or
• the child of such a refugee or of a refugee's spouse or civil partner and at the time the refugee made the asylum application you must have been the under-18-year-old child of the refugee or of the refugee's spouse or civil partner;

and

(c) you have not ceased to be ordinarily resident:

• since you were recognised as a refugee; or
• if you are a spouse / civil partner, or child, of a refugee, since you were given leave to remain in the UK.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent or spouse or civil partner is, recognised as a refugee after the start of the course, you will be entitled to 'home' fees from the start of the next academic year if you meet the requirements of category 2b or 2a.

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

The Immigration Rules revoke someone's Refugee Status once s/he subsequently obtains a new nationality, eg when a refugee gains British citizenship. If you have, or a relevant family member has, Refugee Status and you are, or the person with that status is, considering applying for British (or any other) citizenship, you should be aware that such an application could have an effect on your fees status or your eligibility for Student Support.

The requirements for this category were different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023. So it is important you look at category 3b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course);

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (a) in category 3a. They say that if you (or your parent, spouse or civil partner) became a 'person granted humanitarian protection' after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (a).

and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins), you must be:

1. a "person granted humanitarian protection", which means a person:

• who has been granted leave to remain in the UK under the Immigration Rules, on the grounds of 'humanitarian protection'; and
• whose leave to remain is 'extant', or in respect of whose leave to remain an appeal is pending; and
• who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted their humanitarian protection;

or

2. the spouse or civil partner of a "person granted humanitarian protection" (as above), and you:

• were the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which they applied for asylum; and
• you have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being given your leave to enter or remain

or

3. the child of a "person granted humanitarian protection" (as above), or a child of that person's spouse or civil partner, and:

• at the time the person granted humanitarian protection applied for asylum, you must have been under 18 years old and the child of that person or of someone who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on that date; and
• you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being given your leave to enter or remain

There is no three-year residence test for this category

The Government attempted to introduce one in 2019 but then quickly changed its mind. If your fee assessor tells you that a three-year residence test applies in this category, show them this page and ask them to contact UKCISA for further information.

Expiry date for leave on grounds of humanitarian protection

The leave to remain might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with leave to remain on the grounds of humanitarian protection while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a ‘person with leave to remain on the grounds of humanitarian protection’ for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or if your own spouse / civil partner is, granted humanitarian protection after the start of the course, you will be entitled to 'home' fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements above.

The requirements for this category will become a little more generous on 1 August 2023, so look at category 3a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be:

1. a "person granted humanitarian protection", which means a person:

• who has been granted leave to remain in the UK under the Immigration Rules, on the grounds of 'humanitarian protection'; and
• whose leave to remain is 'extant', or in respect of whose leave to remain an appeal is pending; and
• who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted their humanitarian protection;

or

2. the spouse or civil partner of a "person granted humanitarian protection" (as above), and you:

• were the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which they applied for asylum; and
• you have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being given your leave to enter or remain [but ignore this last bullet point for academic years starting before 1 August 2021]

or

3. the child of a "person granted humanitarian protection" (as above), or a child of that person's spouse or civil partner, and:

• at the time the person granted humanitarian protection applied for asylum, you must have been under 18 years old and the child of that person or of someone who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on that date; and
• you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being given your leave to enter or remain [but ignore this last bullet point for academic years starting before 1 August 2021]

There is no three-year residence test for this category

The Government attempted to introduce one in 2019 but then quickly changed its mind. If your fee assessor tells you that a three-year residence test applies in this category, show them this page and ask them to contact UKCISA for further information.

Expiry date for leave on grounds of humanitarian protection

The leave to remain might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with leave to remain on the grounds of humanitarian protection while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a ‘person with leave to remain on the grounds of humanitarian protection’ for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or if your own spouse / civil partner is, granted humanitarian protection after the start of the course, you will be entitled to 'home' fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements of category 3b or 3a.

The requirements for this category were different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023. So it is important you look at category 4b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who are commencing a course on/after 1 August 2018.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course);

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (a) in category 4a. They say that if you (or your parent, spouse or civil partner) became a 'person granted stateless leave' after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (a).

and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins), you must be:

1. a "person granted stateless leave", which means a person who has:

• extant leave to remain as a stateless person under the immigration rules; and
• been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted such leave;

or

2. the spouse or civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave" (as above), and you:

• were the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which they applied for stateless leave; and
• you have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being given your leave to enter or remain;

or

3. a person who is the child of a "person granted stateless leave" (as above), or a child of that person's spouse/civil partner, and:

• at the time the person granted stateless leave applied for their stateless leave, you must have been under 18 years old, and the child of that person or of someone who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on that date; and  
• you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being given your leave to enter or remain.

Expiry date for leave to remain as a stateless person

The leave to remain might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with leave to remain as a stateless person while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a ‘person with leave to remain as a stateless person’ for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent (or your parent’s spouse / civil partner) is, or if your own spouse / civil partner is, granted stateless leave after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements above.

The requirements for this category will become a little more generous on 1 August 2023, so look at category 4a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who commence their course on or after 1 August 2018.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be:

1. a "person granted stateless leave", which means a person who has:

• extant leave to remain as a stateless person under the immigration rules; and
• been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted such leave;

or

2. a person who is the spouse or civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave" (as above), and you:

• were the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which they applied for stateless leave; and
• you have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being given your leave to enter or remain [but ignore this last bullet point for academic years starting before 1 August 2021]

or

3. a person who is the child of a "person granted stateless leave" (as above), or a child of that person's spouse / civil partner, and:

• at the time the person granted stateless leave applied for their stateless leave, you must have been under 18 years old, and the child of that person or of someone who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on that date; and
• you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being given your leave to enter or remain [but ignore this last bullet point for academic years starting before 1 August 2021]

and

(c) Only if you are being assessed for an academic year starting before 1 August 2021:
you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course

Expiry date for leave to remain as a stateless person

The leave to remain might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with leave to remain as a stateless person while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a ‘person with leave to remain as a stateless person’ for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent (or your parent’s spouse / civil partner) is, or if your own spouse / civil partner is, granted stateless leave after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements of category 4b or 4a.

The requirements for this category were different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023. So it is important you look at category 5b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who are starting a course on/after 1 August 2019.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course);

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (a) in category 5a. They say that if you became a 'person with Section 67 leave' (or a dependent child granted leave for the same period) after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (a).

and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins), you must be either:

1. a person with Section 67 leave (it doesn’t matter if the Section 67 leave is for a limited period, or an indefinite period); or

2. a dependent child of a person with Section 67 leave, who has been granted leave for the same period;

and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted your leave.

Expiry date for leave

The leave might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with the old leave while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a person with the old type of leave for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent is, granted section 67 leave after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements above.

The requirements for this category will become a little more generous on 1 August 2023, so look at category 5a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who start their course on/after 1 August 2019.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be either:

1. a person with Section 67 leave (it doesn’t matter if the Section 67 leave is for a limited period, or an indefinite period); or

2. a dependent child of a person with Section 67 leave, who has been granted leave for the same period;

and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted your leave.

(d) Only if you are being assesssed for an academic year starting before 1 August 2021:
you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

Expiry date for leave

The leave might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with the old leave while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a person with the old type of leave for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent is, granted section 67 leave after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements of category 5b or 5a.

The requirements for this category were different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023. So it is important you look at category 6b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who are starting a course on/after 1 August 2020.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins), you must be a person granted Calais leave, which means “a person who has extant leave to remain in the UK under paragraph 352J, 352K, 352L or 352T (Calais leave and “leave in line” granted by virtue of being a dependent child of a person granted Calais leave) of the immigration rules"; and

(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were granted such leave; and

(c) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course);

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (a) in category 6a. They say that if you became a 'person granted Calais leave' after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (c).

Expiry date for Calais leave

The leave might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with Calais leave while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a ‘person with Calais leave’ for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are granted Calais leave after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements above.

The requirements for this category will become a little more generous on 1 August 2023, so look at category 6a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who start their course on/after 1 August 2020.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be a person granted Calais leave, which means “a person who has extant leave to remain in the UK under paragraph 352J, 352K, 352L or 352T (Calais leave and “leave in line” granted by virtue of being a dependent child of a person granted Calais leave) of the immigration rules"; and

(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were granted such leave; and

(c) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(d) Only if you are being assessed for an academic year starting before 1 August 2021:
you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

Expiry date for Calais leave

The leave might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with Calais leave while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a ‘person with Calais leave’ for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are granted Calais leave after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements of category 6b or 6a.

The requirements for this category were different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023. So it is important you look at category 7b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who are starting a course on/after 1 August 2020.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins), you must be a person who has been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK under any of the following provisions of the immigration rules:

(i) paragraph 289B (victims of domestic violence);

(ii) paragraph D-DVILR.1.1. of Appendix FM (victims of domestic abuse); or

(iii) paragraph 40 of Appendix Armed Forces (victims of domestic violence: partners of members of the armed forces);

(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were granted such leave; and

(c) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course).

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (c) in category 7a. They say that if you became a 'person granted leave as a victim of domestic violence or abuse' after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (c).

Becoming eligible

If you are granted indefinite leave as a victim of domestic violence or domestic abuse after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements above.

The requirements for this category will become a little more generous on 1 August 2023, so look at category 7a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who start their course on/after 1 August 2020.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be a person who has been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK under any of the following provisions of the immigration rules:

(i) paragraph 289B (victims of domestic violence);

(ii) paragraph D-DVILR.1.1. of Appendix FM (victims of domestic abuse); or

(iii) paragraph 40 of Appendix Armed Forces (victims of domestic violence: partners of members of the armed forces);

(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were granted such leave; and

(c) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course.

Becoming eligible

If you are granted indefinite leave as a victim of domestic violence or domestic abuse after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements of category 7b or 7a.

The requirements for this category were different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023. So it is important you look at category 8b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who are starting a course on or after 1 August 2021.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course);

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (a) in category 8a. They say that if you became a person with indefinite leave as a bereaved partner after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (a).

and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins), you must be a person with indefinite leave to remain as a bereaved partner, under any of the following provisions of the Immigration Rules: paragraphs 287(b) and 288; Appendix FM paragraph D-BPILR 1.1; Appendix Armed Forces paragraph 36; paragraphs 295M and 295N; and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted your leave to remain as a bereaved partner.

Expiry date for leave as a bereaved partner

The leave to remain might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with leave as a bereaved partner while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a ‘person with leave as a bereaved partner’ for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are granted leave as a bereaved partner after the start of the course, you will be entitled to 'home' fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements above.

The requirements for this category will become a little more generous on 1 August 2023, so look at category 8a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who start their course on or after 1 August 2021.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be a person with indefinite leave to remain as a bereaved partner, under any of the following provisions of the Immigration Rules: paragraphs 287(b) and 288; Appendix FM paragraph D-BPILR 1.1; Appendix Armed Forces paragraph 36; paragraphs 295M and 295N; and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted your leave to remain as a bereaved partner.

Expiry date for leave as a bereaved partner

The leave to remain might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with leave as a bereaved partner while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a ‘person with leave as a bereaved partner’ for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are granted leave as a bereaved partner after the start of the course, you will be entitled to 'home' fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements of category 8b or 8a.

The requirements for this category were very different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023 (particularly for spouses, civil partners and children). So it is important you look at category 9b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who start their course on or after 1 August 2022.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course);

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (a) in category 9a. They say that if you (or your parent, spouse or civil partner) became a 'person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes' after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (a).

and


(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins), you must be:

1. a "person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes", which means a person:

• who has any one of these four types of leave (if they fit one, you can ignore the other three entirely):
  
  
• indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK, outside the immigration rules, on the basis of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
  
  
• leave to enter the UK on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme (note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this, but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)
  
  
• indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK, outside the immigration rules, on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme (note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this, but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)
  
  
• indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK granted to them under the immigration rules for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy because of their own work in Afghanistan (not the work of a partner or parent). Note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this (but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)

and

• who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since they were granted such leave.

or

2. the spouse or civil partner of a “person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes” (look above the definition). You must have been their spouse or civil partner at the time they made the application that resulted in them being given their leave, and:

• you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since you were granted leave to enter or remain; and
• you must be ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for this second bullet point of requirement (b)2 in category 9a. They say that if you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, and your spouse or civil partner became a "person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes" after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence'.

or

3. the child of either:

• a “person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes” (look above for the definition). You must have been their child at the time they made the application that resulted in them being given their leave, and under 18 on that date; or
  
  
• the spouse or civil partner of a “person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes” (look above for the definition). At the time when the “person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes” made the application that resulted in them being given their leave:

• they must have been the spouse or civil partner; and
• you must have been the child of the spouse or civil partner; and
• you must have been under 18.

You (the child) must also:

• have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since you were granted leave to enter or remain; and
• be ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands.

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for this second bullet point of requirement (b)3 in category 9a. They say that if you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, and your parent became a "person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes" after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence'.

If a biometric residence permit shows 'ALES'

The letters 'ALES' are used on the biometric residence permits of two different groups of people:

1. People granted leave on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme
2. People granted leave on the basis of the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme

The Home Office confirmed this to UKCISA.

So if you have leave on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme, do not just show your biometric residence permit. Show a letter or other document from a UK government department (for example, the Ministry of Defence or the Home Office) that mentions both the 'Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme' (or 'ARAP') and your name. This will act as confirmation that the leave was granted on the basis of that scheme.

Make sure you emphasise to the fee assessor from the beginning that the leave was issued on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme and not the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme. You might want to send them a link to this paragraph, too.

Expiry date for the leave (immigration permission)

The leave (immigration permission) might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with that type of leave while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a person with that leave for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If one of the four types of leave is granted after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements above.

The requirements for this category were very different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023 (particularly for spouses, civil partners and children). So it is important you look at category 9b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who start their course on or after 1 August 2022.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course);

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for requirement (a) in category 9a. They say that if you (or your parent, spouse or civil partner) became a 'person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes' after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence' for the purpose of requirement (a).

and


(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins), you must be:

1. a "person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes", which means a person:

• who has any one of these four types of leave (if they fit one, you can ignore the other three entirely):
  
  
• indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK, outside the immigration rules, on the basis of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
  
  
• leave to enter the UK on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme (note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this, but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)
  
  
• indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK, outside the immigration rules, on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme (note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this, but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)
  
  
• indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK granted to them under the immigration rules for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy because of their own work in Afghanistan (not the work of a partner or parent). Note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this (but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)

and

• who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since they were granted such leave.

or

2. the spouse or civil partner of a “person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes” (look above the definition). You must have been their spouse or civil partner at the time they made the application that resulted in them being given their leave, and:

• you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since you were granted leave to enter or remain; and
• you must be ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for this second bullet point of requirement (b)2 in category 9a. They say that if you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, and your spouse or civil partner became a "person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes" after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence'.

or

3. the child of either:

• a “person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes” (look above for the definition). You must have been their child at the time they made the application that resulted in them being given their leave, and under 18 on that date; or
  
  
• the spouse or civil partner of a “person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes” (look above for the definition). At the time when the “person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes” made the application that resulted in them being given their leave:

• they must have been the spouse or civil partner; and
• you must have been the child of the spouse or civil partner; and
• you must have been under 18.

You (the child) must also:

• have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since you were granted leave to enter or remain; and
• be ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands.

Note: Usually you do not count as 'ordinarily resident' in a place unless your residence there is lawful. However, the regulations make a special adjustment to that for this second bullet point of requirement (b)3 in category 9a. They say that if you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, and your parent became a "person granted leave under one of the Afghan Schemes" after the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began, you get special treatment. The special treatment means you are treated as though your residence was lawful, even if it was unlawful. The residence can therefore count as 'ordinary residence'.

If a biometric residence permit shows 'ALES'

The letters 'ALES' are used on the biometric residence permits of two different groups of people:

1. People granted leave on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme
2. People granted leave on the basis of the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme

The Home Office confirmed this to UKCISA.

So if you have leave on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme, do not just show your biometric residence permit. Show a letter or other document from a UK government department (for example, the Ministry of Defence or the Home Office) that mentions both the 'Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme' (or 'ARAP') and your name. This will act as confirmation that the leave was granted on the basis of that scheme.

Make sure you emphasise to the fee assessor from the beginning that the leave was issued on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme and not the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme. You might want to send them a link to this paragraph, too.

Expiry date for the leave (immigration permission)

The leave (immigration permission) might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with that type of leave while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a person with that leave for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If one of the four types of leave is granted after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements above.

The requirements for this category will change on 1 August 2023 (particularly for spouses, civil partners and children). So look at category 9a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who start their course on or after 1 August 2022.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be a person with any one of these six types of leave:

1. indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK, outside the immigration rules, on the basis of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
   
   
2. indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK, outside the immigration rules, which was granted to you as:
3. the spouse / civil partner / dependent child of a person who was granted indefinite leave on the basis of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme; or
4. the dependent child of the spouse / civil partner of a person who was granted indefinite leave on the basis of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
   
   
5. leave to enter the UK on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme (note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this, but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)
   
   
6. indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK, outside the immigration rules, on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme (note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this, but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)
   
   
7. indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK granted to you under the immigration rules for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy because of your own work in Afghanistan (not the work of a partner or parent). Note that leave on the basis of the ‘Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme’ does not count for this (but see the section below headed 'If a biometric residence permit shows ALES' for an important warning)
   
   
8. leave to enter or indefinite leave to enter the UK, which was granted to you under the immigration rules as:
9. the spouse / civil partner / dependent child of a person who was granted leave on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme; or
10. the dependent child of the spouse / civil partner of a person who was granted leave on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme

and

(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were granted such leave; and

(c) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course.

If a biometric residence permit shows 'ALES'

The letters 'ALES' are used on the biometric residence permits of two different groups of people:

1. People granted leave on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme
2. People granted leave on the basis of the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme

The Home Office confirmed this to UKCISA.

So if you have leave on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme, do not just show your biometric residence permit. Show a letter or other document from a UK government department (for example, the Ministry of Defence or the Home Office) that mentions both the 'Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme' (or 'ARAP') and your name. This will act as confirmation that the leave was granted on the basis of that scheme.

Make sure you emphasise to the fee assessor from the beginning that the leave was issued on the basis of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme and not the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme. You might want to send them a link to this paragraph, too.

Expiry date for your leave (immigration permission)

The leave (immigration permission) might have an expiry date. If the person makes an application to extend or change their leave before it expires, and that application is not decided before the expiry date, then immigration law dictates that they carry on being treated as a person with that type of leave while they wait for a decision to be made (and if their application is refused, then also while they wait for an appeal or administrative review of the decision). They count as a person with that leave for fee assessment purposes during all of that time.

Becoming eligible

If you are granted one of the six types of leave after the start of the course, you will be entitled to ‘home’ fees from the start of the next academic year, if you meet the requirements of category 9b or 9a.

The requirements for this category were different in academic years that started before 1 August 2023. So it is important you look at category 10b too, if you started before 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who are starting a course on/after 1 August 2022.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for (unless you are being assessed for the first academic year of your course, in which case use instead the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins) you must be one of the following:

• British Citizen
• British Overseas Territories Citizen
• British National (Overseas)
• British Overseas Citizen
• British Subject, under the British Nationality Act 1981
• British Protected Person, under the British Nationality Act 1981

and

(b) you were either:

1. evacuated from Afghanistan by or on behalf of the UK, a NATO member state, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran or Qatar during the period from 14 August 2021 to 28 August 2021; or
2. assisted by or on behalf of the UK after 28 August 2021 but before 6 January 2022, to leave Afghanistan

and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were evacuated from or otherwise left Afghanistan; and

(d) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins (note this is a different date from the first day of the first academic year of the course).

The requirements for this category will become a little more generous on 1 August 2023. So look at category 10a too, for information about fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023.

This category is only for students who start their course on/after 1 August 2022.

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for, you must be one of the following:

• British Citizen
• British Overseas Territories Citizen
• British National (Overseas)
• British Overseas Citizen
• British Subject, under the British Nationality Act 1981
• British Protected Person, under the British Nationality Act 1981

and

(b) you were either:

1. evacuated from Afghanistan by or on behalf of the UK, a NATO member state, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran or Qatar during the period from 14 August 2021 to 28 August 2021; or
2. assisted by or on behalf of the UK after 28 August 2021 but before 6 January 2022, to leave Afghanistan

and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were evacuated from or otherwise left Afghanistan; and

(d) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course.

For the purposes of fee status / Student Support assessment, ‘dependent’ (and what it means to be a 'dependant') are not defined in EU law or in the UK Education regulations.

In the European Court of Justice (ECJ) it has been held that, for a relationship of dependency to exist, it is simply a question of looking at the facts and deciding whether a person provides an other person with some kind of support, eg, financial help, accommodation or other material support (see the ECJ case of Centre public d’aide sociale de Courcelles v Lebon (Case 316/85)).

The following has also been held in ECJ cases:

• there is no need to show the reason for the material support; merely that it existed and that, having regard to their financial and social conditions, the family member is not in a position to support themselves (see the ECJ case of Yungying Jia v Migrationsverket [2007] ECR 1-000 and the Court of Appeal case of SM (India) [2009] ECWA Civ 1426);
• (in a specific case of a parent claiming dependency on their child) emotional bonds alone between a parent and young child cannot give rise to a finding that a parent is dependent on his or her child; suggesting that ‘emotional dependency’-alone between two people is not enough to demonstrate dependency (see the ECJ case of Kunqian Catherine Zhu and Man Lavette Chen v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Case C-200/02)). Subsequent to the above case, UKCISA has been advised by a legal expert that emotional dependency may be enough on its own but it would be difficult to provide evidence of such dependency.

The EEA is a larger area than the EU. It is made up of all the countries in the EU plus:

• Iceland
• Liechtenstein
• Norway (including Svalbard)

For categories where the residence area includes the EEA, the residence area is made up of all 30 countries in the EEA including the whole of the island of Cyprus (that is, including Northern Cyprus).

You are an EU national if you are a national or citizen of one of the following:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Republic of Cyprus (but not the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus)
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland (extra note: the territory of Finland includes the Aland Islands)
• France (extra note: the territory of France includes the French Overseas Departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, French Guyana, Reunion and Saint-Martin)
• Germany (extra note: the territory of Germany includes Heligoland)
• Greece (The Consular Office of the Greek Embassy in the UK confirmed for us that "anyone who holds a passport / ID card issued by the Greek Government would be a Greek national who is registered with the Greek Municipal Authorities. This would include those whose documentation describes them as Greek nationals of Hellenic descent. Any such person is, therefore, an EU national [...] unless [...] nationality has been revoked in accordance with Greek law".)
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal (extra note: the territory of Portugal includes Madeira and the Azores)
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain (extra note: the territory of Spain includes the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla)
• Sweden

Special note about the UK, for students starting their course before 11pm on 31 December 2020:

An 'implementation period' followed the UK’s exit from the EU on 31 January 2020, which meant that until 11pm on 31 December 2020, for fees assessment purposes a UK national was still treated as an EU national, and the UK was still treated as part of the EU.

During the implementation period, Gibraltar was treated as part of the territory of the UK.

The 'first day of the academic year' is defined in the fees regulations, which say that if your academic year starts between:

• 1 August and 31 December inclusive, the first day of the academic year is 1 September;
• 1 January and 31 March inclusive, the first day of the academic year is 1 January;
• 1 April and 30 June inclusive, the first day of the academic year is 1 April;
• 1 July and 31 July inclusive, the first day of the academic year is 1 July.

This date is used regardless of when your course term starts or when your lectures commence.

You are ordinarily resident in the relevant residence area (which depends on the category and its qualifying conditions) if you have habitually, normally and lawfully resided in that area from choice. Temporary absences from the residence area should be ignored and therefore would not stop you being ordinarily resident. It has also previously been successfully argued in the UK courts that an individual can be ordinarily resident in more than one place at the same time; individuals wishing to demonstrate this would have to be living a lawful, normal and habitual residence in each of the areas in question.

If you can demonstrate that you have not been ordinarily resident in the relevant residence area only because you, or a family member, were temporarily working outside the relevant residence area, you will be treated as though you have been ordinarily resident there.

Where a category includes a condition that the main purpose of your residence must not have been to receive full-time education, a useful question to ask is: "if you had not been in full-time education, where would you have been ordinarily resident?". If the answer to this question is "outside the relevant residence area" this would indicate that the main purpose for your residence was full-time education. If the answer is that you would have been resident in the relevant residence area even if you had not been in full-time education, this would indicate that full-time education was not the main purpose for your residence in the relevant area.

See Ordinary residence case law for how the UK courts have debated issues of ordinary residence.

'Overseas territories' means both British overseas territories and the overseas territories of  European Union member states. We have separated them into two different lists here. Both lists together make up the 'overseas territories'.

British overseas territories

• Anguilla
• Bermuda
• British Antarctic Territory
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Falkland Islands
• Gibraltar
• Montserrat
• Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
• Turks and Caicos Islands

Overseas territories of EU member states

• Aruba
• Faroe Islands
• French Polynesia
• French Southern and Antarctic Territories
• Greenland
• Mayotte
• Netherland Antilles (Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten)
• St Pierre et Miquelon
• the Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies
• St Barthélemy
• Wallis and Futuna Islands

'Settled' means being both ordinarily resident in the UK and without any immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK. The regulations take this definition of 'settled' from immigration law (section 33(2A) of the Immigration Act 1971).

You have no immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK if you fall into one of the following groups.

Indefinite Leave to Enter/Remain (ILE/ILR)

If you have Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK, you have no immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK.

If you have been given ‘settled status’ under the EU Settlement Scheme, then you have ILE or ILR. That means you have no immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK. It is important to note that if you have only been given ‘pre-settled status’ under the EU Settlement Scheme, then you do not have ILE or ILR.

If you have ILE or ILR in Jersey, Guernsey, or the Isle of Man, then this is considered to be ILE or ILR in the UK whenever you are in the UK.

British citizen

If your passport describes you as a ‘British citizen’, you have no immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK.

Right of Abode

If you have a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode in the UK in your passport, you have no immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK.

Republic of Ireland citizen

If you are a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, you have no immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK. You are also an EU national.

Right of permanent residence in the UK

In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, people who had the right of permanent residence in the UK under European law were always excluded from using the category for people with 'settled status in the UK' (in both the regulations for fees and the regulations for Student Support).

Non-UK national serving in the British armed forces

If you are a non-UK national serving in the British armed forces, you are treated as having no immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK, while you serve in the British armed forces. This is because of section 8(5) of the Immigration Act 1971.

Where status is not ‘settled’

You do not have settled status if you:

• have a time limit on the length of your stay in the UK, as shown by your current immigration permission (you have 'limited leave'); or
• are exempt from immigration control, for example you are living in the UK as a diplomat or a member of their household/family (there is an exception to this if you are a non-UK national serving in the British armed forces [see above]); or
• have a type of British passport that does not give you British citizenship, for example British National (Overseas), and you do not have Indefinite Leave.

‍

The area of residence described as UK and Islands consists of:

• England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (the United Kingdom, or 'UK'); and
• Channel Islands and Isle of Man (the 'Islands').

The definitions of family members in the fees regulations are different from those used in immigration law. The fees regulations only count the specific people listed below as a “relevant family member” of an EU national or a British Citizen. Other family members may have had the right to come to the UK under EU law, but they are not a “relevant family member” for fees assessment purposes.

Who counts as a relevant family member of an EU national or British Citizen?

• spouse / civil partner of the EU national
• spouse / civil partner of the British Citizen
• direct descendant of the EU national, or of the EU national's spouse / civil partner, who is:
• under 21 years old; or
• 21 or over and dependent on the EU national or on the EU national's spouse / civil partner
• direct descendant of the British Citizen, or of the British Citizen's spouse / civil partner, who is:
• under 21 years old; or
• 21 or over and dependent on the British Citizen or on the British Citizen's spouse / civil partner
• additionally (but if the EU national is in the UK as a student, they must be self sufficient), the dependent direct ascendant of the:
• EU national; or
• EU national's spouse / civil partner
• ascendants of British Citizens do not count as relevant family members

'Spouse' means someone who is in a valid marriage. It does not include people who are living together but who are not married. 'Civil partners' are same-sex or opposite-sex couples who have registered their partnership and who have thereby gained formal legal recognition of their relationship. Schedule 20 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 provides a list of partnerships in countries outside the UK that are automatically treated as civil partnerships. Opposite-sex couples were only included in the definition of ‘civil partners’ in 2019, so these individuals only count as having been ‘civil partners’ from 2 December 2019 (in England and Wales), and from 13 January 2020 (in Northern Ireland). The definition of ‘civil partners’ given above is the one used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The regulations do not define what a 'descendant' means. However, the Department for Education has confirmed to us that it considers a 'direct descendant' to "include child, grandchild and great-grandchild (to include step and adopted children, but not foster children)". Similarly, the regulations do not define what an 'ascendant' means but it can include the parent/grandparent of a person.

See the Dependent toggle, above, for further guidance around what it means to be dependent.

The definitions of family members in the fees regulations are different from those used in immigration law. The fees regulations only count the specific people listed below as a “relevant family member” of an EEA worker. Other family members may have the right to come to the UK, but they are not a “relevant family member” for fees assessment purposes.

Who counts as a relevant family member of an EEA Worker?

• spouse / civil partner of the EEA worker
• direct descendant of the EEA worker, or of the EEA worker's spouse / civil partner, who is:
• under 21 years old; or
• 21 or over and dependent on the EEA worker or on the EEA worker's spouse / civil partner
• dependent direct ascendant of the:
• EEA worker; or
• EEA worker's spouse / civil partner

'Spouse' means someone who is in a valid marriage. It does not include people who are living together but who are not married. 'Civil partners' are same-sex or opposite-sex couples who have registered their partnership and who have thereby gained formal legal recognition of their relationship. Schedule 20 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 provides a list of partnerships in countries outside the UK that are automatically treated as civil partnerships. Opposite-sex couples were only included in the definition of ‘civil partners’ in 2019, so these individuals only count as having been ‘civil partners’ from 2 December 2019 (in England and Wales), and from 13 January 2020 (in Northern Ireland). The definition of ‘civil partners’ given above is the one used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The regulations do not define what a 'descendant' means. However, the Department for Education has confirmed to us that it considers a 'direct descendant' to "include child, grandchild and great-grandchild (to include step and adopted children, but not foster children)". Similarly, the regulations do not define what an 'ascendant' means but it can include the parent/grandparent of a person.

See the Dependent toggle, above, for further guidance around what it means to be dependent.

The definitions of family members in the fees regulations are different from those used in immigration law. The fees regulations only count the specific people listed below as a “relevant family member” of a Swiss worker. Other family members may have the right to come to the UK, but they are not a “relevant family member” for fees assessment purposes.

Who counts as a relevant family member of a Swiss worker?

• spouse / civil partner of the Swiss worker
• child of the Swiss worker, or of the Swiss worker's spouse / civil partner

'Spouse' means someone who is in a valid marriage. It does not include people who are living together but who are not married. 'Civil partners' are same-sex or opposite-sex couples who have registered their partnership and who have thereby gained formal legal recognition of their relationship. Schedule 20 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 provides a list of partnerships in countries outside the UK that are automatically treated as civil partnerships. Opposite-sex couples were only included in the definition of ‘civil partners’ in 2019, so these individuals only count as having been ‘civil partners’ from 2 December 2019 (in England and Wales), and from 13 January 2020 (in Northern Ireland). The definition of ‘civil partners’ given above is the one used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The following categories refer to someone being the 'child' of another person:

• Child of a Swiss national
• Swiss workers, and family
• Child of a Turkish worker
• Refugees, and family
• Those granted humanitarian protection, and family
• Those granted stateless leave, and family
• Persons granted leave under the Afghan Schemes, and family
• Persons granted leave under the Ukraine Schemes, and family

When these categories refer to a 'child', there is no requirement for the 'child' to be below a certain age (so the 'child' can be over 18, or over 21). There is also no requirement for the 'child' to be dependent on the 'parent' (or anyone else).

The regulations simply state that:

"'parent' means a parent, guardian or any other person having parental responsibility for a child, and 'child' shall be construed accordingly".

You can read a Government explanation of what 'parental responsibility' is. If a person is already 18 then 'parental responsibility' cannot start if it has not already been established.