Is there a way to avoid multiple visa applications in my case?

[zhongyuan]

Hi All,

I am in a slightly tricky situation, trying to apply for a visa for my son to stay with us, hopefully, you can give me some help.

Here is our current situation:
We are Chinese
Father (myself): ILR (granted Nov 2019 after 5 years on tier2 visa)
Mother: Tier2 dependent (since Jan 2016)
Our son was born in the UK in July 2019 and we have never left the UK because I was not granted ILR at that time, so we applied a Chinese passport for my son from Chinese embassy in London.

Here are some questions:
1. Is it correct that my son is not eligible for ILR until my wife has been granted ILR?
2. Which Visa can we apply for my son within UK, is it a family visa?
3. We tried to fill the family visa application form online on my son's behalf, however, it asks for his last 5 years' address and it is mandatory, my son only 7months old! This is the main reason why I ask questions.

Really appreciated!

[CR001]

Do you not plan on registering the child as British? He doesn't need ilr if you do.

[zhongyuan]

Do you not plan on registering the child as British? He doesn't need ilr if you do.

Thanks for your reply, as you may know, China doesn't allow dual citizenship, once we register him as British there is no way he can apply for chinese nationality again, however, he can apply British citizenship relatively easily in the future, so we want to leave the choice for him once he is older.

[CR001]

He only has an entitlement to register as British while under 18. It is not an indefinite period for him to choose.

[zhongyuan]

He only has an entitlement to register as British while under 18. It is not an indefinite period for him to choose.

Yeah I understand that, do you have an idea of which visa we should apply for him?

[zhongyuan]

Hi All,

A little background:

Father (myself): ILR (granted Nov 2019 after 5 years on tier2 visa)
Mother: Tier2 dependent since Jan 2016, her current visa will expire on Nov 2020, she is going to be on tier2 dependent for 4 years and 10 months when her current visa expires, therefore another dependent visa for 3 years is required.
Our son was born in the UK in July 2019 and we have never left the UK because I was not granted ILR at that time, he is not going to apply for British citizenship to keep his chinese nationality, instead, he will be applying for ILR once his mother is eligible.

Here are some questions hopefully someone could answer:
1. AFAIK, Child born in the UK has rights to stay and we are considering to wait until the mother is qualified for ILR, however nhs only covers for 3 months, we are in risk of paying 150%. Is this correct?

2. If the previous solution won't work we will have to apply for a tier2 dependent visa for him, based on the rules, his visa expiry date will be in-line with the mother, therefore expires 2 months before his mother is eligible for ILR, so we have to apply another extension visa for another 3 years for both of them (GBP4000 in total including IHS), but what we really need is 2months then apply for ILR??? This seems ridiculous. Am I correct?

3. If we have to apply for multiple visas for him. when I was trying to fill online applications, IHS fees is calculated based on my ILR expiry date which is 5 years (GBP2000), how can I use my wife's visa expiry date to apply visa for my son? since he will only be granted to the same date as my wife's. I read about people mentioning "apply alone" is the solution, but if I don't enter my details, how will home office know who the applicant is depending on?

4. Is there a way to avoid applying for multiple visas for my son? Any ideas about how we can save some costs?

Really appreciated!

[zimba]

1. AFAIK, Child born in the UK has rights to stay and we are considering to wait until the mother is qualified for ILR, however nhs only covers for 3 months, we are in risk of paying 150%. Is this correct?

Correct

2. If the previous solution won't work we will have to apply for a tier2 dependent visa for him, based on the rules, his visa expiry date will be in-line with the mother, therefore expires 2 months before his mother is eligible for ILR, so we have to apply another extension visa for another 3 years for both of them (GBP4000 in total including IHS), but what we really need is 2months then apply for ILR??? This seems ridiculous. Am I correct?

Your wife can get ILR 28 days from completing her 5 years. She can apply before visa expiry and book the appointment for a date when she is eligible. That way you will not need an extra extension

3. If we have to apply for multiple visas for him. when I was trying to fill online applications, IHS fees is calculated based on my ILR expiry date which is 5 years (GBP2000), how can I use my wife's visa expiry date to apply visa for my son? since he will only be granted to the same date as my wife's. I read about people mentioning "apply alone" is the solution, but if I don't enter my details, how will home office know who the applicant is depending on?

Put an expiry date that brings the IHS to 3 years.

4. Is there a way to avoid applying for multiple visas for my son? Any ideas about how we can save some costs?

See abobe

[zhongyuan]

2. If the previous solution won't work we will have to apply for a tier2 dependent visa for him, based on the rules, his visa expiry date will be in-line with the mother, therefore expires 2 months before his mother is eligible for ILR, so we have to apply another extension visa for another 3 years for both of them (GBP4000 in total including IHS), but what we really need is 2months then apply for ILR??? This seems ridiculous. Am I correct?

Your wife can get ILR 28 days from completing her 5 years. She can apply before visa expiry and book the appointment for a date when she is eligible. That way you will not need an extra extension


Thank you so much Zimba, this is an interesting idea, the problem is, are we allowed to start an application before 28 days, I thought we can't start application process 28 days before completing 5 years, do you know if anyone successful obtained ILR in this way? Do I have to use super priority service for this, since you mentioned book appointment?

[zimba]

You should be eligible for ILR on the day of your decision. So in theory you can apply early but the appointment should be booked only on the day which you are eligible.