Dependents ILR Eligibility

[con25]

Hi Experts - Need you advice on the case below.

Case -

 Tier 2 General Visa start date for Main applicant and his dependents is 19th June, 2015.
 Main applicant entered UK on 26th June, 2015.
 Dependents entered UK for 1st time on 17th Sept, 2015.

 Then due to medical issues and no domestic help available – dependents left UK on 15th Aug, 2018 for treatment back home.
 Plan is to get the dependents back to UK by end of March’20 as health is stable now.

Query - Whist main applicant is eligible for ILR towards end of May'20 (28 days before expiry of VISA). Just wondering if dependents can also apply for ILR at the same time or absence will affect their ILR application ?

Thanks,

[CR001]

Have you both held one visa for the whole time or have there been renewals at any point?

[con25]

One Visa. Tier 2 General (5 years)

[con25]

Dear Experts - Appreciate any advice on my case. Any inputs will help me immensely.

[zimba]

Query - Whist main applicant is eligible for ILR towards end of May'20 (28 days before expiry of VISA). Just wondering if dependents can also apply for ILR at the same time or absence will affect their ILR application ?

First of all, your visa expiry date is irrelevant. It is 28 days from completing your 5 years, counting from visa issue date. Your PBS dependant was issued visa before 11 Jan 2018, so there is no absence limit

[con25]

Thanks Zimba for coming back on this. Appreciate that.

So from what I have understood - Dependents are also eligible to apply for ILR at the same time as of main applicant and their absence won't affect as PBS dependant visa was issued before 11th Jan, 2018.

Is that correct? And if yes, then what about cohabitation proofs which I need to submit? I do have proofs like dependant and main applicant having UK Driving License sharing the same address, rental agreement having both names, Water bill having both names, council bills, Voter Registration cards etc.

So quick check:

Are these proofs enough?
And how these proofs still justify cohabitation when dependents are not physically in UK? Am I missing any link here between absence and cohabitation?

Thanks,

[con25]

** Re-posting the previous post with little additions to make it readable as a whole **

Thanks Zimba for coming back on this. Appreciate that.

So from what I have understood - Dependents are also eligible to apply for ILR at the same time as of main applicant and their absence won't affect as PBS dependant visa was issued before 11th Jan, 2018.

Is that correct? And if yes, then what about cohabitation proofs which I need to submit? I do have proofs like dependant and main applicant having UK Driving License sharing the same address, rental agreement having both names, Water bill having both names, council bills, Voter Registration cards etc.

So quick check:

Are these proofs enough?
And how these proofs still justify cohabitation when dependents are not physically in UK? Am I missing any link here between absence and cohabitation? Dependents will be back in March'20 so they will be physically in UK around 2 months before the ILR application date! Is the enough from cohabitation point of view!"

Thanks,

[zimba]

So from what I have understood - Dependents are also eligible to apply for ILR at the same time as of main applicant and their absence won't affect as PBS dependant visa was issued before 11th Jan, 2018.Is that correct?

Yes, assuming they have completed their qualifying period too

And if yes, then what about cohabitation proofs which I need to submit? I do have proofs like dependant and main applicant having UK Driving License sharing the same address, rental agreement having both names, Water bill having both names, council bills, Voter Registration cards etc.

Any evidence, covering the last two years from at least 3 different sources
This is to show that you lived with your partner in a subsisting marriage

[con25]

Hi Zimba – Thanks once again for your response but this time I am little confused.

When you say “assuming they have completed their qualifying period too” what do we mean by that? I am assuming you mean completing 5 years from Visa issue date (as absences don’t affect dependents where visa issue date is before 11th Jan’ 2018). Is that right! In my case where “due to medical issues dependents have to left UK on 15th Aug, 2018 for treatment back home and they will be coming back by end of Mar’20 before we apply for ILR in May’2020” – I am assuming they have still completed their qualifying period as we all have the same visa start date 19th June, 2015 (5 years visa) (as absences don’t impact in their case) ?

Considering my specific case where “due to medical issues dependents have to left UK on 15th Aug, 2018 for treatment back home and they will be coming back by end of Mar’20 before we apply for ILR in May’2020” – although their absence won’t affect the ILR application (due to visa start date before 11th Jan, 2018) how cohabitation will help here when dependents were not here physically here in the UK for that period? As mentioned earlier I am still having all the cohabitation proofs (like bills, rental agreement etc.) in-case I have to show but am I missing any link here between absence and cohabitation or which one takes precedence my case?

Appreciate any clarity on this confusion.

[zimba]

When you say “assuming they have completed their qualifying period too” what do we mean by that? I am assuming you mean completing 5 years from Visa issue date (as absences don’t affect dependents where visa issue date is before 11th Jan’ 2018). Is that right! In my case where “due to medical issues dependents have to left UK on 15th Aug, 2018 for treatment back home and they will be coming back by end of Mar’20 before we apply for ILR in May’2020” – I am assuming they have still completed their qualifying period as we all have the same visa start date 19th June, 2015 (5 years visa) (as absences don’t impact in their case) ?

Yes

Considering my specific case where “due to medical issues dependents have to left UK on 15th Aug, 2018 for treatment back home and they will be coming back by end of Mar’20 before we apply for ILR in May’2020” – although their absence won’t affect the ILR application (due to visa start date before 11th Jan, 2018) how cohabitation will help here when dependents were not here physically here in the UK for that period? As mentioned earlier I am still having all the cohabitation proofs (like bills, rental agreement etc.) in-case I have to show but am I missing any link here between absence and cohabitation or which one takes precedence my case?

There is no link. You are overthinking this

[con25]

Thanks experts for all your help so far.
I have a 2 queries(after reading the responses on other threads).

In my case, as dependents entered UK on 17th Sept, 2015 (but visa start date is 19th June, 2015)

a) does this absence affect their eligibility criteria to apply for ILR? Considering absence rule for dependents came in 11th Jan, 2018 for the visa issues after that but we all had a 5 year visa starting starting in 2015.

b) When are the Tier 2 dependents eligible for ILR i.e. is it 28 days from date of first entry to UK or visa issue date as these are different in my dependents situation?

Appreciate your kind inputs on the above queries.

[zimba]

The rule changes specifically on this issue in 2018 apply to ALL applicants regardless of when they got their visa.
Advice given above stands. The date of entry is not relevant anymore

[con25]

Thanks for all the inputs.

[con25]

Hi - I have a little similar situation where I (main applicant) will be applying for ILR in May'20 end and my family who currently have tier 2 dependent visa are in India for past 1.5 years and their PBS dependent will expire in July, 2020. With the Covid 19 situation and border restrictions - seems unlikely that they will be able to travel back to UK before their visa expiry date.
Hence checking -
1) Can they apply for new PBS dependent (not extension which happens in the UK) from India whilst my ILR application is in process and if this is possible, will the clock reset or they can combine the duration on PBS visas existing and new one to be issued towards their ILR??

[con25]

Hi CR001 - Due to change in situation because of covid the question in the new post is different from this original post. Hence I started the new thread.
I am happy for us to discuss the new queries here in this thread also if this is fine with moderators.

[zimba]

Hi - I have a little similar situation where I (main applicant) will be applying for ILR in May'20 end and my family who currently have tier 2 dependent visa are in India for past 1.5 years and their PBS dependent will expire in July, 2020. With the Covid 19 situation and border restrictions - seems unlikely that they will be able to travel back to UK before their visa expiry date.
Hence checking -
1) Can they apply for new PBS dependent (not extension which happens in the UK) from India whilst my ILR application is in process and if this is possible, will the clock reset or they can combine the duration on PBS visas existing and new one to be issued towards their ILR??

When does your current visa expire?

[con25]

All in the family has the same visa expiry date - 18th July, 2020 and we all had the 5 years visa starting in 2015.
I am planning to apply for my ILR on 22 May, 2020 to get the process started. Family is still in India as they couldn't able to travel before border restrictions.

[zimba]

All in the family has the same visa expiry date - 18th July, 2020 and we all had the 5 years visa starting in 2015.
I am planning to apply for my ILR on 22 May, 2020 to get the process started. Family is still in India as they couldn't able to travel before border restrictions.

There are no border restrictions in the UK
They should apply before your visa expiry otherwise UKVI may refuse to grant PBS dependant visa

[con25]

You are right. There are no border restrictions in UK but there are in India as airspace is closed for commercial flights.

When you say they should apply PBS dependant visa before my visa expiry does that means me applying for ILR has no bearing on that?

My understanding was that if I apply for ILR (with standard service only the option and decision will take little long) and during that course if my family apply for PBS dependant visa then their application will go on HOLD until my ILR decision is out. And if approved, their application will also be approved. But after my ILR application, will UKVI approve PBS dependant visa for my family or will they expect to change to some other visa category?

[zimba]

You are right. There are no border restrictions in UK but there are in India as airspace is closed for commercial flights.

When you say they should apply PBS dependant visa before my visa expiry does that means me applying for ILR has no bearing on that?

My understanding was that if I apply for ILR (with standard service only the option and decision will take little long) and during that course if my family apply for PBS dependant visa then their application will go on HOLD until my ILR decision is out. And if approved, their application will also be approved. But after my ILR application, will UKVI approve PBS dependant visa for my family or will they expect to change to some other visa category?

If you get ILR, they are expected to be on family visa route as far as I believe given they are applying for entry clearance.

[con25]

if I get the ILR - yes - they are expected to be on family visa route but what if they apply at the time when my ILR application outcome is yet to come? Can they apply for PBS Dependent VISA during that grey period (from the time I apply my ILR till I get the outcome -- considering only standard service is available now) before their visa expiry and get the result of the same once my ILR is approved?

[zimba]

if I get the ILR - yes - they are expected to be on family visa route but what if they apply at the time when my ILR application outcome is yet to come? Can they apply for PBS Dependent VISA during that grey period (from the time I apply my ILR till I get the outcome -- considering only standard service is available now) before their visa expiry and get the result of the same once my ILR is approved?

They need to apply before your visa expiry regardless of your ILR application. UKVI may refuse their visa as your visa validity is quite short

[con25]

Thanks Zimba for your replies. Will keep an eye on the situation and update the post incase I have any further queries. Thanks once again.