ILR for children who stayed in uk for 7 years

Hi,
I came via T2 (ICT) in 2007 and became ILR in 2012 and British Citizen in 2015
My wife and elder son came to UK on T2(ICT) in Sep 2008 but stayed back in india for a gap of about 10 months in 2009. Again back in UK on T2 (ICT) from Dec 2009 continuously. In Sep 2013, they were eligible for ILR (assuming the break of 9 months was split against 2 years). However without realising that we converted my wife and elder son to FLR(M) in Jan 2014. In Dec 2014, went to UKBA for ILR for them, however it was rejected that they are not eligible, as they converted their T2(ICT) to FLR(M) and have to wait for 5 years in FLR(M) category. Now i understand that for children who spent 7 years in UK, will get ILR. My questions are as follow:
1. I would like to know if this 7 year stay rule is feasible for my elder son, who came to UK in Sep 2008 and stayed till now (gap from Feb 09 to Nov09).
2. For my wife, still do i need to continue in FLR (M) for another 3 years before she attains ILR OR is there any way to get ILR as i am currently British Citizen? and she has been living with me since Sep 2008 onwards.
3. For FLR(M) and other visas i saw that health insurance charges of 200 pounds per year person are being charged. Is this a new thing?

Regards

How did you not realise you were 'converting' to FLR(M)? PBS Dependent and FLR(M) are two completely different applications.

There are no absence limits for dependents. When they qualified for ILR in 2013, what application did you submit?

In December 2014, what application form did you complete for their ILR (set(O) or Set(M))

Yes, the health surcharge would be payable, £500 for each applicant, when/if they apply for an extension.

I am not sure if your dependents are covered by the transitional arrangements but based on the rule changes of April 2014, they might just be protected and could apply now on Set(M), see this link (click), scroll down to 'Dependents of PBS (Tier 1 and Tier 2) heading.

CR001 wrote:How did you not realise you were 'converting' to FLR(M)? PBS Dependent and FLR(M) are two completely different applications.
t2ictilr : As i mentioned, since there is a gap of 9-10 months in 2009, i didnot consider the Sep 2008 arrival at all for calculating 5 years and since there was some urgency at my wife's work that they will not extend her T2(ICT), we had to convert her to FLR(M)

There are no absence limits for dependents. When they qualified for ILR in 2013, what application did you submit?
t2ictilr : But there were not my dependents. they came on my wife's T2(ICT) in Sep 2008 and then in Dec 2009.

In December 2014, what application form did you complete for their ILR (set(O) or Set(M))
t2ictilr : Went for SET(M), which was rejected

Yes, the health surcharge would be payable, £500 for each applicant, when/if they apply for an extension.

I am not sure if your dependents are covered by the transitional arrangements but based on the rule changes of April 2014, they might just be protected and could apply now on Set(M), see this link (click), scroll down to 'Dependents of PBS (Tier 1 and Tier 2) heading.

t2ictilr : In this link, there is suggestion for PBS dependents to continue extension rather than converting to FLR(M). My wife and elder son were never my dependents. they came on T2(ICT) of my wife and then directly converted to FLR(M). I should have changed them to PBS dependents, not sure if that was the case.

You should have said they came on your wife's OWN Tier 2 ICT.

It would have made absolutely no difference if you had applied as PBS Dependents. They would both still be on a 5 year route to ILR because they applied for dependent visa (in any category) AFTER July 2012.

They would not have been on a two year route to ILR if you had applied PBS Dependent.

If you have ILR and they were not your PBS Dependents before ILR, they could ONLY have applied as FLR(M).