ILR for a child born abroad - please help!

Me and my husband are about to apply for ILR after 5 years in the UK on tier 2 visas. We have a 7 years old son who arrived here with us shortly before his 3rd birthday. He was born abroad. We are deciding whether to include him in our ILR application or try to apply him straight for citizenship after we receive our ILR on dicretionary grounds. I would appreciate advice on how likely is our application to be approved.

Our reasons for discreationary application:
My son spent most of his life (nearly 5 years up till now) in the UK. He started nursery here and currently attends primary school, doesn't speak any language other than English and doesn't remember ever living in any other place. He received a scholarship to attend his school for the next 5 years and will be a chorister in a cathedral for this period, which shows his intention to stay in the UK for the foreseable future and make his home here. His sister was born in the UK and is applying/ for her citizenship, his parents have ILR.

An additional question - if this citizenship applcation is rejected, do we get back the fees? Can we then apply for ILR for him only, and would such rejection create any difficulties?

Thanks a lot in advance!

We are deciding whether to include him in our ILR application or try to apply him straight for citizenship after we receive our ILR on dicretionary grounds.

He needs ILR first as he is born abroad. Also, children born abroad can only apply for citizenship once they have ILR already AND either parent is also applying for citizenship and the other parent holds ILR.

Our reasons for discreationary application:
My son spent most of his life (nearly 5 years up till now) in the UK. He started nursery here and currently attends primary school, doesn't speak any language other than English and doesn't remember ever living in any other place. He received a scholarship to attend his school for the next 5 years and will be a chorister in a cathedral for this period, which shows his intention to stay in the UK for the foreseable future and make his home here. His sister was born in the UK and is applying/ for her citizenship, his parents have ILR.

He needs ILR first, as stated above already.

An additional question - if this citizenship applcation is rejected, do we get back the fees?

No, you lose the fee you pay.

Can we then apply for ILR for him only, and would such rejection create any difficulties?

A child can apply for ILR on their own IF both parents have ILR and the child still has a valid visa.

I just submitted my ILR application. I answered "No" to the question "Have you ever received public funds".

However I in fact lawfully claimed child benefits since I have a citizenship of a country in reciprocal social security agreement with the UK that allows its citizens to claim child benefits (the list is on page 22 in this document if anyone is interested https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... 5.0ext.pdf
)

This document also states that citizens of these countries are allowed to claim "..benefits that are not considered public funds for immigration purposes" (on page 59) and that selecting "no" in response to this question if you are eligible does not constitute grounds for refusal (page 49).

Based on this description I thought I should have selected "no"... However I am not absolutely sure. Perhaps I should add some cover letter to my application explaining the situation?

Was anyone in a similar situation and what did you select?

You can attach a concise covering letter to clarify it.

Thanks a lot for your reply!

A follow up technical question: how do I do it? I already uploaded my supporting documents and hit a submit button. Seems that there is no way to submit any more documents (I can upload more but cannot submit...)

RoomOnTheBroom wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 05, 2020 1:47 pm

Thanks a lot for your reply!

A follow up technical question: how do I do it? I already uploaded my supporting documents and hit a submit button. Seems that there is no way to submit any more documents (I can upload more but cannot submit...)

Submit button only appears ONCE. You will have to wait for your biometrics appointment/email to submit more documents. You can upload but can NOT submit now.

Thank you.

Is there perhaps some other way I should use to contact UKVI prior to receiving this email?

I have an additional question - do they normally request to send physical documents in or to bring physical documents to the biometric appointment?

RoomOnTheBroom wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 05, 2020 3:35 pm

Thank you.

Is there perhaps some other way I should use to contact UKVI prior to receiving this email?

I have an additional question - do they normally request to send physical documents in or to bring physical documents to the biometric appointment?

No physical documents are now sent to UKVI. All documents are scanned and submitted after you attend your biometrics at UKVCAS.
You are advised to carry all original documents at the appointment but they do not check that. Its just in case a poor scan needs to be redone. Only original passport is mandatory.

Not sure, you have to check your visa category and see if you can find an address where it’s processed. Maybe you can send in a cover letter and missing document then.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Me, my husband and my child just submitted SET(O) ILR applications. We both had Tier 2 visas. My husband and my child submitted their application (adult+dependant) separately from me (same as we did with Tier 2). I suddenly became worried that we were supposed to submit as one family unit in order for my child to get ILR, after reading on this forum that both parents of a child born abroad need to have ILR in order for him to get one. I am wondering how ukvi know that I also submitted my application...will the case worker get back to us to clarify this issue? Or am I misunderstanding the rules?
Thanks in advance for your help!

Topics merged.

If all have applied for ilr, there should be no issue.