Need help with visitors visa

Good day

I need some help with a visa question.

My wife, myself and kids lived in the Uk on Ancestry visas. We returned to South Africa just before our visas ended and about a year later (Oct 2012) my wife as the main visa holder returned to the UK. She is currently in full time employment in Scotland, renting a flat.

My self and the children remain in SA but wish to also go over, our main problem is that the nhs surcharge is so high. I recently proposed that we get myself a dependency visa so I could go work again and the children visitor visas. We do realise that the children wont be able to go to school in the UK and that one of us would have to return to South Africa to get them their dependency visas within the 6 months.

Do anybody forsee any problems with visitors visas being granted to to children or any other visa related problems?

TIA

erasmusdt wrote:Good day

I need some help with a visa question.

My wife, myself and kids lived in the Uk on Ancestry visas. We returned to South Africa just before our visas ended and about a year later (Oct 2012) my wife as the main visa holder returned to the UK. She is currently in full time employment in Scotland, renting a flat.

My self and the children remain in SA but wish to also go over, our main problem is that the nhs surcharge is so high. I recently proposed that we get myself a dependency visa so I could go work again and the children visitor visas. We do realise that the children wont be able to go to school in the UK and that one of us would have to return to South Africa to get them their dependency visas within the 6 months.

Do anybody forsee any problems with visitors visas being granted to to children or any other visa related problems?

TIA

Welcome.

Visit visas are inappropriate as you are proposing the children will reside in UK.
And they are unlikely to be granted for that reason.

You cannot bring children to UK and switch them later as and when finances improve.

Members of your family can’t apply in the UK as your dependant if they hold a visitor visa.

And withholding children from school once they are in UK is (probably) illegal.

To reside in UK your children need an appropriate visa from the get go.

noajthan wrote:

erasmusdt wrote:Good day

I need some help with a visa question.

My wife, myself and kids lived in the Uk on Ancestry visas. We returned to South Africa just before our visas ended and about a year later (Oct 2012) my wife as the main visa holder returned to the UK. She is currently in full time employment in Scotland, renting a flat.

My self and the children remain in SA but wish to also go over, our main problem is that the nhs surcharge is so high. I recently proposed that we get myself a dependency visa so I could go work again and the children visitor visas. We do realise that the children wont be able to go to school in the UK and that one of us would have to return to South Africa to get them their dependency visas within the 6 months.

Do anybody forsee any problems with visitors visas being granted to to children or any other visa related problems?

TIA

Welcome.

Visit visas are inappropriate as you are proposing the children will reside in UK.
And they are unlikely to be granted for that reason.

You cannot bring children to UK and switch them later as and when finances improve.

Members of your family can’t apply in the UK as your dependant if they hold a visitor visa.

And withholding children from school once they are in UK is (probably) illegal.

To reside in UK your children need an appropriate visa from the get go.

I did state that we will return to South africa to apply for their dependancy visas, also I should probably have stated it but asumed that its understood that this will happen before their visitors visas expire ie. within the 6 month period granted for visitors.

I will also not initially go with them but send them first to their mother and then aaply for my dependency visa

erasmusdt wrote: My self and the children remain in SA but wish to also go over, our main problem is that the nhs surcharge is so high. I recently proposed that we get myself a dependency visa so I could go work again and the children visitor visas. We do realise that the children wont be able to go to school in the UK and that one of us would have to return to South Africa to get them their dependency visas within the 6 months.

Apart form the problem of both parents residing in the UK, what about healthcare cover for your children?


Visitor visas and short-term visas

You don’t have to pay the healthcare surcharge if you’re applying from outside the UK for a visitor visa or any visa that lasts 6 months or less.

You don’t need to use the healthcare surcharge service or get an IHS reference number for your visa application. Instead, you’ll have to pay for any healthcare you get through the NHS at the point you use it.

https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigrati ... n/overview



With an IHS number, it means they get to use the NHS for free. The NHS can add 50% to the bill if there is no insurance.

I know you have to pay the £200 a year up front for the duration of the visa but that £200 a year is cheaper than insurance. By paying for the duration of the visa, you are protected from any increases in the IHS. Can yuor wife get one of those long term interest free credit cards? That way the amount could be paid off monthly.

I am not concerend about health care or any other issues, just the visitor visa

erasmusdt wrote:I am not concerend about health care or any other issues, just the visitor visa

If you are finding the NHS Surcharge fees excessive, in the unfortunate event of your children needing medical treatment while they are in the UK as visitors, how will you meet the cost of NHS fees which will be charged at 150%

Casa wrote:

erasmusdt wrote:I am not concerend about health care or any other issues, just the visitor visa

If you are finding the NHS Surcharge fees excessive, in the unfortunate event of your children needing medical treatment while they are in the UK as visitors, how will you meet the cost of NHS fees which will be charged at 150%

Sorry Casa, I edidted my post with the 50% extra before I saw your post. Yes the Immigration Act 2014 changed the rules for the NHS from 6 April 2015.

Isn't there something about NHS debt over £500 needing to be paid if they want a visa?

erasmusdt wrote:I did state that we will return to South africa to apply for their dependancy visas, also I should probably have stated it but asumed that its understood that this will happen before their visitors visas expire ie. within the 6 month period granted for visitors.

I will also not initially go with them but send them first to their mother and then aaply for my dependency visa

You did.
But a visit visa is not a short-term stop gap.

Children can come when you can afford to secure correct visa for them, with healthcare.
Budgeting for health care is not an optional extra as who knows what can happen and when.

If money is so tight then the whole plan is on shaky foundations to start with.
And anyway all the to-ing and fro-ing (additional flights & etc) will only eat into your budget for visas.

erasmusdt wrote:I am not concerend about health care or any other issues, just the visitor visa

Can you afford to pay if God forbid one gets ill or involved in an accident? You should be concerned.

Visit visas are just that, visits, not resident visas. Surely too the additional cost of flights to and fro would add up to more the than the cost of the correct visa?

I am not asking about heathcare, we lived in the Uk for 5 years and know how it works. It is with the visa I need help

Wanderer wrote:

erasmusdt wrote:I am not concerend about health care or any other issues, just the visitor visa

Can you afford to pay if God forbid one gets ill or involved in an accident? You should be concerned.

Visit visas are just that, visits, not resident visas. Surely too the additional cost of flights to and fro would add up to more the than the cost of the correct visa?

No it doesnt

Petaltop wrote:

Casa wrote:

erasmusdt wrote:I am not concerend about health care or any other issues, just the visitor visa

If you are finding the NHS Surcharge fees excessive, in the unfortunate event of your children needing medical treatment while they are in the UK as visitors, how will you meet the cost of NHS fees which will be charged at 150%

Sorry Casa, I edidted my post with the 50% extra before I saw your post. Yes the Immigration Act 2014 changed the rules for the NHS from 6 April 2015.

Isn't there something about NHS debt over £500 needing to be paid if they want a visa?

Yes indeed. Any outstanding NHS debt over £500 which has not been repaid within 3 months will result in a refusal of future visa applications under 320(11) Aggravating circumstances and frustrating the Immigration Rules.

noajthan wrote: Children can come when you can afford to secure correct visa for them, with healthcare.
Budgeting for health care is not an optional extra as who knows what can happen and when.

Exactly. That's why I suggested that the wife (the visa holder) sees if she can get one of those very long term interest free credit cards, as she must have built up some credit now after her time in the UK.

Both parents can then work to pay that card off, but the children will be in the UK with full use of the NHS for free as they have an IHS number.

Please forget about the health care..I did not once ask any opions about health care.

All I want to know is will children be able to get visitors visas to visit their mother in the Uk who is there on an ancestry visa

erasmusdt wrote:I am not asking about heathcare, we lived in the Uk for 5 years and know how it works. It is with the visa I need help

In that case you need dependant visa for them and to pay the IHS fee.

erasmusdt wrote:Please forget about the health care..I did not once ask any opions about health care.

All I want to know is will children be able to get visitors visas to visit their mother in the Uk who is there on an ancestry visa

You didn't have to ask but healthcare and schooling and misuse of visit visas are all relevant issues in relation to your original question:

Do anybody forsee any problems ... or any other visa related problems

Visit visas are not designed for this; don't you think everyone would turn up on visit visas if they could.
That is not how UK protects its borders and manages its guests.

This has become very side tracked. I have no issues or worries about healthcare.

All I want to know is: Could children get a visitors visa to visit their mother in the Uk who is there on an ancestry visa?

Unlikely unless they can show strong ties to their home country to convince the ECO that they won't overstay as visitors. With their mother residing in the UK this may prove difficult.

erasmusdt wrote:I am not asking about heathcare, we lived in the Uk for 5 years and know how it works.

You left in 2012. The NHS changed from 6 April 2015 under the Immigration Act 2014.

That Act changed who "ordinary resident" is for NHS purposes, as in, ordinary resident for free use of the NHS. Have a google on that and you will see a lot of solicitors explaining what that change means for migrants who reside in the UK.



There is now a carrot and stick for the NHS.

- The NHS staff must now check who can have the NHS for free and their Trust gets fined if they don't bill. As well as checking the patients biomeric resident permit (which they get if they have a visa of 6 months or more) UKVI help by putting a banner system on the NHS SPINE system. Red banner on the patients name means bill. Green banner means don't bill. No banner, they can phone UKVI for advice.

- The NHS no longer have to use their budget to pay for migrants secondary care as either -
- they use the patients insurance for the bill and they keep the 50% too if they don't have insurance.
-if they have an IHS number the Trust collect that money for that treatment from the central fund the government holds, where all the payments from the IHS are held.
etc.

NHS England had run a consutlation about ending free primary care in England.

erasmusdt wrote:This has become very side tracked. I have no issues or worries about healthcare.

All I want to know is: Could children get a visitors visa to visit their mother in the Uk who is there on an ancestry visa?

Unlikely.

our main problem is that the nhs surcharge is so high

Casa wrote:Unlikely unless they can show strong ties to their home country to convince the ECO that they won't overstay as visitors. With their mother residing in the UK this may prove difficult.

Thank you.

What would constitute strong ties?

Strong ties:

• Family established in country.
  Parents/siblings in country.
  Wider family ties/relatives in country.
  Current schooling plus educations plans in country.
  Property ownership.
  Business interests.
  Long term future in country.

Clearly a history of ancestry visas plus at least one parent applying for/on a current ancestry visa plus any evidence of home ties being uprooted (property/business for sale; assets liquidated & etc) all mitigate against grant of a visit visa to a child.

Difficult for a child to prove strong ties as an adult would be expected to show evidence of property ownership, employment and self-sufficiency in the home country.

You would need to submit evidence that you are the SOLE carer of your children and that they have a commitment to education in their home country. If they are intending to stay in the UK for 6 months, study in the home country will lapse.

Also visit visas are just that, ad-hoc visits for 2/3 weeks over the six month VALIDITY of the visa, they are not f6 months residency visas.

Who will look after the children when you are both at work anyway?

Casa wrote:Difficult for a child to prove strong ties as an adult would be expected to show evidence of property ownership, employment and self-sufficiency in the home country.

You would need to submit evidence that you are the SOLE carer of your children and that they have a commitment to education in their home country. If they are intending to stay in the UK for 6 months, study in the home country will lapse.

Reading through your opening post I see that you intend to arrive in the UK on a dependent visa with your children and only return to SA to apply for their own dependent visas when their visitor visas expire.

In light of this, it will be even more of a struggle to prove strong home ties when applying for their visitor visas as neither parent will be residing in SA.

Wanderer has made a valid point. If you both intend to work, have you factored in the high cost of child care in the UK when your children are unable to attend school here ?