Form C1 Northern Ireland: How to Complete the Residence Order Application

The Forms You Need (and Which Ones You Don't)

Northern Ireland family court forms come from NICTS — the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service — and they are different from the forms used in England and Wales. If someone has pointed you toward Form C100 or mentioned Cafcass, that advice does not apply here. Northern Ireland has its own set of forms under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.

For a residence order application, you will typically file:

• Form C1 — the main application for an order under the 1995 Order
• Form C1A — the summons served on respondents (birth parents and anyone else with parental responsibility)
• Form C1AA — additional welfare information about the child, including any domestic violence or harm allegations

You may also need:

• Form C2 — if you need the court's permission (leave) to apply because you do not have automatic standing
• Form C5 — if your home address needs to be kept confidential from a respondent
• Form ER1 — to apply for court fee exemption or reduction

All forms are free to download from the NICTS website. They are standard PDF documents — do not buy blank court forms from template sites.

Form C1: The Main Application

Form C1 is where you set out who you are, who the child is, who the respondents are, and what order you are asking for. Key sections include:

Your details and the child's details. Full names, dates of birth, addresses. If you are using Form C5 to keep your address confidential, write "Address withheld — see Form C5" in the address field.

The order you are seeking. Tick the box for a Residence Order under Article 8. If you also want a Prohibited Steps Order (to prevent a parent removing the child from the jurisdiction, for example), tick that too.

Your connection to the child. The court needs to understand your relationship — grandparent, aunt, uncle, family friend — and how long the child has been living with you. This is directly relevant to whether you have automatic standing under Article 10.

The reasons for your application. A factual summary of why the child is in your care and why a residence order is needed. Stick to facts: when the child came to live with you, why the parents cannot care for the child, and what problems arise from not having legal parental responsibility (school enrolment issues, medical consent difficulties, passport applications).

A common mistake flagged in judicial reviews is stripping out the embedded guidance notes. Those notes explain what the court expects in each section — leave them in and follow them.

Form C1A: The Summons

Form C1A is issued by the court office after you file Form C1. It formally summons the respondents to attend the first hearing. You need to arrange for it to be served on every person holding parental responsibility, and you must file proof of service before the hearing date.

Form C1AA: Welfare and Harm Information

Form C1AA captures supplementary information about the child's welfare and any allegations of domestic violence, abuse or neglect. Even if you are not making harm allegations, complete it — courts expect it alongside every Form C1 filing. Leaving it out causes delays at the directions hearing.

Form C2: Seeking Permission

If you do not qualify under any of Article 10's classes for applying without leave, you need to apply for leave before your main application can proceed. These classes include the qualifying three-year residence period and applying with the required consents. Form C2 is the permission application.

File Form C2 alongside a draft Form C1 — the court wants to see your substantive application at the same time as your leave request. The leave application costs £71 at the Family Proceedings Court tier. If leave is granted, the judge has discretion to waive the subsequent Form C1 fee.

Form C5: Confidential Address

If you have safety concerns — a parent with a history of violence, stalking or harassment — Form C5 withholds your home address from the respondent. The court holds the address securely. Only file this if there is a genuine safety risk.

Form ER1: Fee Exemption

Court fees are separate from solicitor fees and apply to every applicant, including self-represented litigants. At the Family Proceedings Court, filing Form C1 costs £71 and issuing the summons costs £19. If you receive a passporting benefit (Income Support, income-based JSA, Guarantee Credit, or Universal Credit below the earnings threshold), you can apply for full exemption.

File a separate Form ER1 for each fee — one for the filing fee, one for the summons fee. Submit them at the same time as your application. If you pay the fee first and later discover you qualified for exemption at the date of payment, you can apply for a refund within the prescribed time limit.

Putting It All Together

The Northern Ireland Kinship Care guide includes preparation worksheets that map directly to each form's fields, so you can organise your information before committing it to the official forms. It walks through the standing check, the form combinations for different scenarios (consent, contested, leave required), and the filing logistics at each court tier.

Official NICTS forms are always free. The guide helps you fill them in correctly the first time, reducing the risk of delays and rejected submissions.

See more Northern Ireland guides →