Form EX660: Court Request to the Home Office for Immigration Information

At a glance

• What EX660 is: the HMCTS form a family court uses to formally request immigration and visa information from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), part of the Home Office.
• Who submits it: court staff send the package to UKVI — parties or solicitors complete the form, the judge approves it, the court seals the order and dispatches everything.
• Three documents required: the completed EX660, a sealed court order, and a UKVI SVEC pro-forma completed by court staff. A missing document means outright rejection.
• Response window: UKVI has four weeks from the date it receives the complete package — not from the date of the hearing or the order.
• Governing document: the Protocol Communicating with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) in Family Proceedings, agreed between the President of the Family Division and the Home Office in May 2018.
• Related tracing routes: Practice Direction 6C covers address-disclosure orders directed at the DWP and HMRC; Form EX670 relates to court-ordered HMRC disclosure.

What Form EX660 is

Form EX660 is an HMCTS form used by family courts in England and Wales — the Family Division of the High Court and the Family Court — to request immigration and visa information from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), the division of the Home Office responsible for immigration casework.

The form does not stand alone. Under the May 2018 protocol agreed between the President of the Family Division and the Home Office, an EX660 request has three mandatory components that must all travel together before UKVI will act on any of them:

1. The completed Form EX660, typed (not handwritten), approved by the judge.
2. A sealed court order drawn up and approved by the judge, specifying exactly what information is sought and the deadline for the response.
3. A UKVI SVEC pro-forma completed by court staff, using the information in the EX660 and the order.

If either the sealed order or the SVEC pro-forma is absent, the protocol states the request will be rejected. EX660 alone achieves nothing.

The protocol replaces and supersedes earlier iterations of the guidance issued in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014. The substance — courts requesting immigration information from the Home Office in family proceedings — has not changed; the updated protocol reflects UKVI's current processes, contact details and pro-forma requirements.

Why a family court uses EX660

Courts resort to EX660 when the immigration status, visa history, or passport records of a parent or child are directly relevant to the outcome of family proceedings, and that information cannot be reliably obtained from the parties themselves.

Typical scenarios include:

Adoption proceedings involving a foreign national child. Where a child subject to adoption proceedings is a non-UK national, UKVI records may be the only reliable source of information about the child's immigration status and entry history. The protocol specifically requires the EX660 and order to identify whether an adoption is involved, because that routes the request to the correct UKVI team. The immigration and nationality outcome for the child can depend on the adoption order itself, making early clarity important.

Child arrangements disputes where a parent's whereabouts or immigration status is uncertain. If a parent may have left England and Wales, or if their right to remain in the UK is in question and that affects where a child should live or the enforceability of any order, a judge may order an EX660 request to establish the factual position.

Relocation applications. Where a parent applies to relocate a child internationally, the other parent's immigration status (in the country of proposed relocation or in the UK) can be a relevant factor. UKVI records may shed light on travel history or existing visa conditions.

Public law proceedings. In care proceedings involving a child or parent with a connection to another jurisdiction, a judge may direct an EX660 request to establish immigration status as part of the overall welfare enquiry.

Courts use this route rather than relying on the parties because Home Office immigration records are authoritative and cannot easily be fabricated or withheld in the way that documents held by private individuals can be.

What the protocol requires: the three-document package

Form EX660 itself

The 2018 protocol sets out specific requirements for how EX660 must be completed:

• It must be typed, not handwritten. This is explicit in the protocol. A handwritten form is non-compliant.
• It must be completed in full, including details of the child who is the subject of the proceedings and both parents (including adoptive parents where relevant), whether or not both parents are parties to the proceedings. Providing both parents' details enables UKVI to trace the child's records accurately.
• It must specify the questions the court wants answered — the form and the order must both be clear about what information is being sought.
• It must include contact details for someone who has agreed to provide further information if needed.
• It must clearly state the date by which the information is required. Failure to do so may cause UKVI to delay processing the request.
• It must identify whether the case involves an adoption and whether the immigration issues relate to an asylum or non-asylum application, because this affects internal UKVI routing.

The sealed court order

The court order must be drawn up and approved by the judge, then sealed by the court. It must:

• clearly state the deadline for UKVI to provide the response;
• specify any additional documents (such as a synopsis) that the court wishes UKVI to have;
• confirm that the court has given leave for disclosure to UKVI to be made. The protocol notes that disclosing proceedings information to UKVI without this leave could otherwise amount to contempt of court.

The SVEC pro-forma

Court staff complete the UKVI SVEC pro-forma using the information in the EX660 and the order. The protocol sets out in detail how each section must be filled in. This is an operational tool on UKVI's side — it generates the target date and assigns the case type in UKVI's systems. Without it, the request is rejected.

How the package is sent and what happens next

Once the order is sealed, court staff email the complete package — the sealed order, the completed EX660, and the SVEC pro-forma — to UKVI's dedicated inbox, with a specified reference in the subject line of the email. The protocol requires this to happen on the same day the order is made, wherever possible. If there is a delay in sealing, the required-date field in both the order and the SVEC pro-forma must be adjusted to ensure UKVI still has its full four weeks.

Once received, a UKVI official is personally responsible for either answering the query themselves, by retrieving the file and preparing a statement for the court, or forwarding it to the caseworker or relevant official with carriage of the particular file. UKVI's obligation is to ensure its response reaches the court in time, as instructed.

The four-week response window in practice

The four weeks begins when UKVI receives the complete package. This is an important distinction: the clock does not start from the date of the hearing, the date the order was made, or the date it was posted. It starts on receipt.

In practice, this means:

• If the order is made in court on a Tuesday and sealed and dispatched that day, UKVI has four weeks from that Tuesday.
• If the court needs several days to prepare and seal the order, the required date in the order should be pushed back by a corresponding number of days, to preserve UKVI's four-week window rather than shrinking it.
• The deadline in the order and the required-date fields in the SVEC pro-forma should be consistent and realistic. An unrealistically tight deadline does not accelerate UKVI — it risks the request being processed to a deadline that has already passed by the time it arrives.

Where the court needs to chase a case that appears delayed, the protocol provides a route for chasing via a specific UKVI contact. A party who wants to prompt action can raise the matter with the court to initiate that contact.

Related tracing routes in family proceedings

EX660 and UKVI are the mechanism for immigration and visa information. Where the question is simply a party's or child's current address — rather than immigration status — different routes apply under Practice Direction 6C of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (updated April 2022).

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Courts can direct address-disclosure orders or requests at the DWP. These are sent by the court to the DWP by email. The DWP holds National Insurance records and benefit payment addresses, which can locate a missing party faster than immigration records in some domestic cases.

HMRC. Courts can direct address-disclosure orders at HMRC. These are sent by the court by email or in hard copy to HMRC's Child Benefit Office. The protocol notes that HMRC generally requires such a request to be made by order of the High Court rather than the Family Court, and Practice Direction 29C provides for transfer of proceedings for that purpose. Form EX670 is associated with court-ordered HMRC disclosure requests.

These tracing routes are not interchangeable with EX660: EX660 is specifically for immigration and visa information held by UKVI, not for tracing addresses via benefits or tax records. In practice, a court may order more than one type of request simultaneously where different information is needed from different departments.

What this guide covers and its limits

This page explains how Form EX660 and the 2018 UKVI protocol work in England and Wales. It is a general information resource. It is not legal advice and does not substitute for advice from a qualified legal professional about the specific facts of any particular case. The position described reflects the protocol as updated in May 2018 and Practice Direction 6C as updated in April 2022, and is subject to change.

Last reviewed: June 2026 · Next review due: June 2027 or on material protocol change.