British by Descent, married 7 years & living outside UK

[UKGuyLondon]

Hello everyone,

I am a British citizen by descent living in Pakistan. My wife and 3 year old son (Pakistani) have recently been granted ILE. We will move to UK in a couple of months (about 5 months after visa issuance) since there are unavoidable circumstances due to which we cannot depart earlier. My wife plans to immediately give the KOL test and then she and my son will apply for ILR. We have been married for 7 years.

My question is, assuming she passes the KOL test, how long do we have to live in UK before she and my son can apply for Naturalization and British Citizenship/passport?

Thank you in advance.

[f2k]

3 years residency in the UK will be required for your wife

[UKGuyLondon]

Thanks for your reply f2k,

My wife and son were issued ILE visas with no KOL Req endorsement. Once we land in UK, we will go to the relevant UKBA office and try to get this corrected.

As stated earlier, my wife will give the KOL test and apply for ILR.

My questions are:

1. Do we need to pay the fee for ILR again once she passes the KOL test or is it already taken care of since her ILE visa was approved just 3 months ago?

2. If the above is applicable on us, does the new fee structure of about GBP 1,600 from April 2010 apply to both members of my family? From what I understand, it is only for my dependant son.

Thanks in advance!

[f2k]

Interesting one that. Some might say that if they already issued you ILE and havent endorsed that she needs KOL then that would be that. To get the stamp 'corrected' then

1/ Yes you will need to pay the fee for ILR

2/ The fee structure you are looking at is not the correct line. Your wife would need to either £840 or £1,095 (if you go for same day service). Your son doesnt need to do the KOL so wont need to reapply.

[UKGuyLondon]

Thanks f2k. I'm still unclear about why my son will not need to reapply since his Leave to Enter is timebound for 27 months after which his visa will expire. Provided my wife passes the KOL test and applies for ILR, her visa does not expire. Will I not need to apply for an indefinite visa for my son too? Please note as mentioned earlier that we will be landing in UK 5 months after visa issuance and my son's visa will expire.

[f2k]

Thanks f2k. I'm still unclear about why my son will not need to reapply since his Leave to Enter is timebound for 27 months after which his visa will expire. Provided my wife passes the KOL test and applies for ILR, her visa does not expire. Will I not need to apply for an indefinite visa for my son too? Please note as mentioned earlier that we will be landing in UK 5 months after visa issuance and my son's visa will expire.

I think you have to use the visa for initial entry within 27months. Once he enters the UK its then valid forever (subject to not being out of the country for more than 2 years at any one time.

Just confirm that your sons visa does say 'Indefinite leave to Enter'

[UKGuyLondon]

Oops!

I was wrong about the endorsements. Guess my head was full to the brim with research and I assumed I had been granted ILE instead of the 27 month visas! Endorsements are as follows:

Wife: D - Spouse/CP - Spouse/CP of (my name and date of birth)
Son: D - To acc mother/cyr (my name and date of birth)

My plan is now to:

1. Land in UK and have my wife give the KOL test
2. Contact and meet UKBA staff after wife passes KOL test
3. Have UKBA correct endorsement to ILR for my family
4. Pay fee for above for both of them
5. Apply for family's Citizenship/Naturalization after 3 years
5. Pay fee for above again for both of them

Does the above sound right? Shall we meet UKBA before my wife takes the test to confirm the plan above just in case?

Thanks for your patience and for responding.