Tier 2 long term staff dependent visa (Fee issues)

[Minaraouf]

Hi Gents,

My name is Mina. I am Egyptian, and I have a tier-2 intracompany transfer, long-term staff visa 5 years. My visa issued on July 5th, 2018 so nearly a year passed. I would like my wife to join me in the UK. She is Egyptian, too. We are aiming to apply for her a dependent visa following tier-2 intracompany transfer, long-term staff up to 3 years. I would like to show and explain the issues we faced during our experience of applying for the dependent visa for my wife.
Let me summarize these issues in two points. First, there is a discrepancy between the total fees as per the website’s guideline and the fees amount which need to be paid after the application has been filled. As per the points below;
- Application fee for dependent - £610 as per gov.uk - £1,296 as per the application - with difference £686
- Health and safety surcharge (3 years for dependent) - £400 per year, £1,200 in total (3 years) - £1,870 as per the application – with difference £670
- Total fees are £1,810 as per gov.uk - £3,166 as per the application- with difference £1,356 extra.
Second, it seems that the application, somehow, considers the filled details as a request for “long-term staff dependent up to 5 years” instead of “long-term staff dependent up to 3 years”. During filling the application in, there were no questions on visa route. However, only on the HIS payment page, the visa route “long-term staff dependent up to 5 years” appears and we are not able to update the field. Although, we answered “3 years” to the question, “How long do you intend to stay in the UK?”.
As I understood, my wife is not allowed to have a 5-years visa since she is dependent on my work permit. Hence, the maximum she can be permitted is “tier-2 intracompany transfer long-term staff dependent, up to 3 years”
In conclusion, I have two questions, listed below:
1) Is what I have explained accurate or do we have any misunderstandings with the fees?
2) How would we select the “tier-2 intracompany transfer long-term staff dependent, up to 3 years”?

Thanks for your support,
Mina

[CR001]

As I understood, my wife is not allowed to have a 5-years visa since she is dependent on my work permit. Hence, the maximum she can be permitted is “tier-2 intracompany transfer long-term staff dependent, up to 3 years”

No, you have completely misunderstood. PBS Dependents get the same visa validity as the main visa holder, so in your case it would be the 'up to 5 years' option. There is no rule that says dependents cannot have more than 3 year visa.

1) Is what I have explained accurate or do we have any misunderstandings with the fees?

Yes you have misunderstood.

2) How would we select the “tier-2 intracompany transfer long-term staff dependent, up to 3 years”?

You can't. You have to select the 5 year option.

[Minaraouf]

Thanks for you fast response!

One of my friend has exactly the same case. his visa (March 2017) and he got the visa for his wife in (March 2018). His wife only got her visa (Up to 3 years). has the procedure been changed since then ? What is the difference between my case and his case?

[CR001]

Maybe he had a 3 year cos.

[Minaraouf]

No 5 years cos. Exactly, the same case.

[Minaraouf]

has the procedure changed ?