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For more than 200 years, Gurkhas have been an integral part of the British Armed Forces and as such are covered by the Armed forces: exempt from immigration control legislation (Immigration Rules and Immigration (Exemption from Control) Order 1972) which gives them and their direct dependants indefinite leave to enter/remain.
This legislation includes the following definition:
Definition of HM Forces
The law defining whether someone is a member of HM Forces is set out in the Armed
Forces Act 2006. To be a member of HM Forces they need to be a member of the Royal
Navy (including Royal Marines), British Army (including Brigade of Gurkhas) or Royal Air
Force. All members of HM Forces must have enlisted in the UK.
British armed forces personnel are covered by Par.55 while their spouse would be covered by 41.4/41.8
This is covered in the funding rules as below:
- Any individual with any of the statuses listed below is eligible to receive funding and are exempt from the 3-year residency requirement rule:
41.1. Refugee status
41.2. Discretionary leave to enter or remain
41.3. Exceptional leave to enter or remain
41.4. Indefinite leave to enter or remain
41.5. Humanitarian protection
41.6. Leave outside the rules
41.7. Afghan Locally Engaged Staff under the intimidation policy
41.8. The husband, wife, civil partner or child of any of the above in paragraphs 41.1 to 41.7
41.9. Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 leave
41.10. Calais leave to remain
HTH
Richard Heath
AEB eligibility - Gurkha spouses
Created
We need to establish the eligibility of spouses of serving soldiers in the Gurkha regiment stationed in the UK, where the spouse and serving soldier do not meet the three-year residency requirement. The relevant section of the funding rules (paragraphs 55-57) doesn't provide a clear answer: para 57 relates to "other nations' armed forces", while para 55 is silent on the question of residency length and also whether spouses are covered.
Any thoughts?