DNA Testing for Immigration

If you require a DNA test to prove a relationship to help you get a visa, or for an entry clearance appeal, please register your application with the UK Visas & Immigration service

Not necessarily. However to obtain public funding in the UK for testing you will need to contact a solicitor. You may also find that a solicitor or advice agency such as the Immigration Advice Service or Immigration advice from the CAB can offer assistance in completing the forms.

Our standard charges are £396 + VAT for up to 3 individuals and then £133 +VAT per additional person. In addition, you will need to pay the cost of having the DNA samples taken. The sampler's fees will vary and you will need to contact them direct to establish the exact price. We can also arrange the use of couriers to speed up the sending of kits and returning of samples. Please ask our customer services advisors for full details.

We use a simple, painless, mouth swab collection system. The swab is rubbed gently around the inside of your mouth to collect a sample of cheek cells.

Please ensure that you take 2 passport-sized photographs of each person to be tested to the sampling appointment. The sampler must sign these photographs, providing evidence that they are a true likeness of the person who has given the sample. You also need to take Government-issued identification, such as a passport or Home Office Travel Document, and a photocopy of this ID to the sampling appointment. The photocopy of this ID document will be forwarded to our office along with the sample forms consenting to the DNA test and the photographs.

Once we've received all the samples in the case at our UK laboratories, and if they arrive before 10am we can normally make the report available to you by the end of the next working day. Please remember that the process including arranging for the samples to be collected and sent back to our lab here in the UK can add extra time - we now offer a courier service to speed things up - contact our customer services team for further details.

We will produce a report using the DNA samples we have tested which will detail the most likely relationship between the individuals tested, and contain statistics to support this. To ensure the most conclusive result, it is important that the closest relatives are tested. Whenever possible both parents should be tested. 

We will send a copy of the report to those parties listed on the Report Distribution section of the registration form. No one will receive a copy of the results unless they are listed on this form. If you require a copy of the report to be sent to the British High Commission/Embassy, you must include those details.

Cellmark produces results which have been accepted as evidence of claimed relationships by UK courts of law since 1987, but we cannot guarantee that an application made to the Embassy will be accepted. Visa services manage the United Kingdom's entry clearance (visa) operation from visa offices in British overseas missions. Click this link to go to their website.

If English isn't your or your client's first language Cellmark now offers instant translation services over the telephone for the majority of languages.

Call Cellmark on 0800 036 2522 for free, confidential advice.