Can I bring my partners Syrian mum and sisters to the UK?

They have zero chance of a tourist visa, because it's perfectly obvious that they don't have strong indicators of return. And a refusal would make it harder to get any other visa in the future.

OP it's extremely unlikely that you can do anything I'm afraid. Not with the current immigration policies.

Why ? The tyrant Assad has been toppled - the rebels are asking for a free and fair path to democracy, Syrians who are in exile are returning - if I was a Syrian refugee I would be back to rebuild my country rather than languishing in a camp somewhere!

The rebels are Islamists and though they have apparently repudiated Al Qaida, there may well be some ISIS fighters there. Erdogan seems to be supporting and possibly funding this. Civilians will get hurt and killed even if this isn't the specific intention of the rebels. It's a war zone.

This situation has arisen becasue of the paranoia and xenophobia over immigration. We need immigrants, they are good for our country, and in this case, it sounds as though they would be legitimate refugees, but the system will do everything they can to stop them. The advice above to talk to an immigration lawyer is the best, I think.

Who is the "better" of the 2? Are the rebels harming civilians or just fighting military?

@QueenCamilla the problem is not population density but liveable space with infrastructure- health care, jobs houses. This is the problem in the uk and is even more of a problem in the neighboring countries who are all also far poorer. We cannot expect them to bear this alone.

More generally I’m quite shocked at some of the vitriol towards a family whose lives have been blighted for years by war and now are facing acute danger and uncertainty. OP I really hope they get to safety whether that is in the UK or elsewhere.

I feel so sorry for all those who are suffering the effects of war, famine etc. but our own citizens should be our first priority, before we allow even more immigration. We literally can’t help everyone and where do we draw the line? As @greenel said, “There’s millions of immigrants like me in the UK and if we all brought our families over, it would be chaos.”

I wonder how many U.K. citizens would want to allow all those affected by war, famine etc. into our country, if their admittance directly affected them? Have those, wishing to allow an undetermined number of immigrants in, actually looked at the state of our country as it is? U.K. citizens are already living on the streets, and having to use food banks to survive, never mind increasing the number of people living here!

It's funny that this thread has reached 2 pages with 152 replies so far with posters all speculating, advising, suggesting, arguing, fighting, questioning and answering themselves with more advice and suggestions, yet the OP has not posted once after the first post nor answered any relevant question.

Perhaps OP has got their answer which in summary is: 'No you can't, except under some rare circumstances with a very complicated and long process where the outcome isn't guaranteed'.

Agree with this. People would say they have family here but unfortunately we have too many people in the U.K. from many countries already and is likely someone would already have family here.

Damascus has now fallen, so let's see what the next few months bring. Assad's prime minister has spoken with the rebel leader and announced elections will be held. Fighters have been told to protect infrastructure and civilians.

Would be worried about revenge, however. Was his family in any way implicated with the Assad regime, Alawite, etc?

Are they Christian? The Christians in areas taken over have so far been treated ok.

Sorry for being cynical, OP, but you're not married and the onus is completely on you to sponsor his family? How long have you been together? I'd be very wary of sending any money, especially money you cannot afford to lose. I definitely wouldn't send money to the family of a relatively new partner, wherever they were living.

You clearly don’t understand the situation in Israel and Palestine either! Situations which cause refugees are always complex and include lots of factors, political, economic and cultural as well as often including factors relating to natural resources or natural disasters. It’s often tempting to want a simplified story with “goodies” and “baddies” but it’s never that easy.

U.K. takes less than 1% of the global total refugees. Turkey by contrast hosts the largest number of refugees of any country: it is currently giving sanctuary to 2.5 million Syrian refugees, while Jordan and Lebanon host 1.7 million between them.

Vast majority of refugees go to nearest surrounding countries . U.K. take in percentage terms few asylum applications.

“There were 67,337 asylum applications (relating to 84,425 people) in the UK in 2023, 17% lower than the number of applications in 2022 (81,130 applications, relating to 99,939 people). As shown in figure 1, the latest number of applications is 20% lower than the previous peak in 2002 (84,132 applications).’

Figure 1: Asylum applications lodged in the UK, years ending December
2002 to 20231

Some real misunderstanding of immigration and visas on this thread. It’s not an online form where you satisfy some criteria and computer says yes. There’s a credibility test and there is no way any visa officer is going to grant a ‘visit’ visa to a Syrian joining someone in the UK at the moment.

To get on a plane to the UK you need passport and visa. Fines are levied on airlines when people manage to get on a flight with false documents.

The schemes to actively bring people over can’t be resurrected while the system is absolutely overwhelmed with the self selected. We can’t choose to protect women and children from war zones while we’re wading through the asylum applications of all the overstayers and boat people.

There is also zero chance of them being detained if they manage to get out and pay a trafficker to get them to the UK somehow. Detention space is saved for people who are a threat or might realistically be refused and removed.

All very very difficult for anyone with family they naturally want to protect. Unfortunately they are up against exhausted nations struggling with massive economic migration.

I just googled the UK’s number of refugees it’s 231,500, so quite a bit less than 4 million so I wouldn’t say it’s a similar scale.

Obviously also you can’t just put refugees in any bit of land mass, the infrastructure has to be there. Australia for example has huge land mass but much of it is not suitable for most people to live as there is no infrastructure and so would be large parts of Turkey and Iraq.

One of the other countries bordering Syria is the Lebanon. Obviously their infrastructure has literally collapsed because they were recently bombed by Israel. They already host the highest number of refugees per capita and square kilometre. So not a good option either.

But it’s not like we are advocating opening the doors with no restraint. This thread is about a few relatives of someone who already lives in the UK and most kill has residency / citizenship. I think it’s reasonable enough for them to be taken in.

The Rules changed very significantly in 2012. The tax paid by a sponsor is completely irrelevant. It is possible to sponsor an elderly dependent relative under the Immigration Rules, but it's very difficult indeed. Being able to house and maintain the relative is only the start of it - in addition, you need to show that the parent needs long-term personal care to perform everyday tasks due to age, illness or disability and that care must be either not available or not affordable in the country where the applicant is living.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-adult-dependent-relative

OP's partner's families are not refugees from war. The Geneva Convention is irrelevant.
The UNHCR 1951 (the Refugee Convention) might be what you mean - nothing to do with Geneva. And if the family is in Syria by definition they aren't refugees. A refugee is a person who is outside his country of origin, and has a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention Reason (race, religion, etc...). If they are in Syria, they aren't refugees.
The family can apply for refugee status as soon as they get off a plane in the UK - absolutely. But they can't get on a plane to the UK, without a visa. And they won't get a visa to come and seek asylum.

The short answer under the Immigration Rules is, "no". There is no general visa provision for a British Citizen to sponsor non-UK in-laws to enter the UK to live here.
The shortish answer under the Immigration Rules if your partner's a refugee in the UK is probably also, "no". You said she is a Syrian citizen; if she has refugee status in the UK it might be possible but it isn't at all likely that she can sponsor her parents and siblings.
See paragraph 7.2 below - www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-family-reunion-protection
Generally speaking a person from Syria would get asylum in the UK, but there's no visa route to come to the UK to claim it. You can't apply for asylum in the UK from outside it.
There are various refugee schemes particularly for Syria and Syrian citizens, including via the UNHCR. Numbers are limited.
They could make an application outside the Immigration Rules on the basis of their relationship with your partner, but it won't be decided all that quickly, and the chances of success are not high.

As others have mentioned, I think an immigration lawyer would be better to advise here. I doubt it will be a simple process though. The UK is on its arse and when so many hard working British citizens are already struggling and services are so poor, it doesn't go down too well.

No.

@gloriagloria
Turkey is three times the size of the United Kingdom but has only about 15mil more inhabitants. The population growth has all but stopped in Turkey but in the UK even the most conservative of estimates project rapid growth.
England (where most migrants and refugees settle) is also very densely populated overcrowded at just over 400 inhabitants per sq.km. Finland has 18, Sweden 26, Bulgaria 62, Romania 83, Greece 78, Georgia 55, Norway 15, Iceland nearly 4 people per sq.m...

That's not to say Turkey should take in more of the asylum seekers. But England is most definitely not the answer. Absolutely not.
And I bet there ain't no Finns or Bulgars itching to get their doors open - that is a uniquely British quirk. Whatever happened to "put your own vest on first" - it ain't wise to act all saviour for others when one is nostrils-deep and barely afloat.

The Syria specific scheme closed in 2021 as the target was met and it's a pity the OP's DP didn't try and bring his family over then. Now asylum can only be sought by people already in the UK, not from abroad. Getting his mum and sister to the UK is the challenge as they won't get a visa now to fly directly to the UK. And all other routes are dangerous and sketchy (and illegal). As pp said, it's easier for them to try to get to other safe nations closer to home.

OP what is your partner’s status here and how long have you been together?

While I think the posts saying he should risk his life and go back there seem harsh, Syria has been unstable for a long time, so how did it come about that he came over here in the first place?

My thought would be that this was his plan all along, come as an economic migrant, get settled with a home, and then bring the family over.

What’s happening in the Middle East is awful, but I would be careful and look after yourself.

You have a point but OP's partner's family are refugees from war at this point and have rights under the Geneva convention. Problem is that UK and EU laws have been poking holes into these entitlements.

But if they're willing to become asylum seekers then under the terms of the convention they have to be allowed to ask for asylum fresh off the plane. Before considering this, though, I'd want to know whether they could end up in 'immigration detention', which sounds hellish.