Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 250458, in what exceptional circumstances there is discretion to grant visas outside the Immigration Rules for extended family members.

Where a refugee family reunion application does not meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules, caseworkers must consider whether there are any exceptional circumstances or compassionate factors which may justify a grant of leave outside the Immigration Rules. We revised our guidance in 2016 to include more detail on the types of case that may benefit from a visa outside the Rules, this includes young adult sons or daughters who are dependent on family here and living in dangerous situations.

Specifically, exceptional circumstances or compassionate factors apply where a refusal would either breach the right to respect for family life under Article 8 of the ECHR or result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their family.
It is for the applicant to demonstrate what the exceptional circumstances or compassionate factors are in their case. Each case must be decided on its individual merits.