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Student Finance England

I have a question regarding the three-year ordinary residence rule for Student Finance.

A bit of a context:
My family and I have been living in England since April 2021. My father is an EU national (Swedish and Pakistani National) and all of us hold EU pre-settled status. In July 2024, we travelled to Pakistan for a planned two-month holiday. The timing was chosen because I was due to begin my undergraduate studies in September 2024 (I had an unconditional offer from Aston University and also received an offer from the University of Birmingham whilst I was in Pakistan). My sister was due to resume the second year of her A-levels after our return. The sole purpose of this trip was therefore a family holiday before continuing our studies.

Unfortunately, matters took a very serious turn. During our stay, my father became violent towards us. Following a particularly severe incident of domestic abuse, he took our passports under the pretence of booking return tickets. No tickets were ever booked. Instead, he disappeared for six to seven months due to a legal issue, maintaining little to no contact. Whenever we asked about the passports and residence cards, he claimed they were “with the authorities”, although neither my mother, my sister, nor I were contacted by any officials or informed of any legal matter requiring them.

When he eventually returned, there was another incident of violence. My mother then left him and went to live with her parents, while my sister and I were kept living with my father. He showed no remorse and continued to delay our return to England. Months passed until it became clear to my mother that he had no intention of handing our passports back. She reported hers missing, obtained a replacement without any difficulty, and returned to England. This showed us that his earlier claims about the passports being “with the authorities” were …suspicious to say the least.

Shortly after, my father went abroad again, leaving my sister and me in Pakistan. Now with my mom being in england, he had no valid reason for keeping us sisters here in pakistan, like claiming it was unsafe for us to be alone in England, even though we had close relatives there. Eventually, it was decided that my sister and I would also return to England to live with our mother.

This time my dad returned our passports. despite his previous claims, once again no legal issues were raised. We were then able to travel back, and we are now residing in England with our uncle.

To be absolutely clear: throughout this period, we always had the full intention of returning to England. Our absence was prolonged only because of the abusive and controlling actions of my dad, and not by choice.

I feel very hopeless, can i still apply for student finance. It’s very crucial for my studies. And i have to study if i want to entertain any thought of financial independence

Reply 1

Stephen SLC

Official Rep

Hi there, thank you for explaining your situation concisely. When students submit their applications, additional submissions of hand written / typed covering letter evidence can be submitted with the applications (or posted, if required) Students can have a temporary break in their residency and evidence can be submitted to resolve this, however there are cases where this may not be possible, but you can submit the additional covering letter evidence for review and if required, further advice or specific required clarifying evidence may be requested, if applicable. You should still apply, but we would need to review the application as a whole for any further decision. Stephen