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In my experience, one of the most overlooked issues affecting children in care is their immigration status.
That's completely understandable. Social workers and local authority teams are dealing with complex safeguarding concerns, placement arrangements, education, health needs and day-to-day welfare issues. Naturally, those immediate priorities come first.
However, I think children’s immigration status is often viewed as something that can wait, when in reality it can have a significant impact on a child's future.
I've seen cases where a young person has spent years in the UK, thriving in education and settled in their community, only for concerns about their immigration status to emerge much later. By that point, what could have been addressed proactively has become more urgent, more complex and, in some cases, more expensive.
For children in care, their immigration status can affect their access to higher education, employment, housing, travel and other opportunities as they move into adulthood. Most importantly, it can affect their sense of stability and security.
I believe one of the most valuable steps a local authority can take is to understand a child's immigration position as early as possible.
That doesn't mean every child will have an immigration issue. But where concerns do exist, identifying them early gives everyone more time and more options.
Children may enter care with no documented immigration status, expired leave to remain, unresolved nationality issues or pending applications. Others may have a route to British citizenship or settled status that simply has not yet been explored.
The earlier those issues are identified, the easier it is to build them into wider care planning and avoid a situation where a young person approaches adulthood without lawful status or appropriate documentation.
The scenarios I encounter are often very different, but the theme is usually the same: immigration issues have not been identified early enough.
For example, I recently worked on a case involving a child born in the UK who had spent most of their life here but had no confirmed immigration status. By working closely with the local authority and gathering evidence about the child's life, education and care history, we were able to secure leave to remain and provide much-needed certainty for the future.
In another matter, a young person approaching adulthood had limited documentation and no clear route forward. Following a full review of the circumstances, a successful British citizenship application provided long-term security and removed many of the practical barriers the young person was beginning to face.
I've also seen cases involving children from European Union countries whose families never applied under the EU Settlement Scheme. Many local authorities assume these cases should be straightforward, but they often require careful investigation and evidence gathering before status can be secured.
If there is one message I would share with local authorities, it is this: don't assume a child’s immigration status has already been secured.
A simple review of a child's nationality, immigration history and available documentation at an early stage can make a significant difference. If there are concerns, seeking specialist advice sooner rather than later can help avoid problems further down the line.
In my view, a child’s immigration status should be considered alongside other key aspects of care planning rather than treated as a separate legal issue.
For the children involved, the outcome is about far more than securing their immigration status in the UK. It's about creating certainty, protecting future opportunities and ensuring that vulnerable young people have the foundations they need to build stable, successful lives.
Based on fictionalised case studies reflecting issues commonly encountered by local authorities supporting children in care.
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