British Citizenship of Child Born in the UK while Father's ILR is Under Review

[msjtargaryn]

Hi All,
This is COVID-19 time, so we are going through an extraordinary situation.

I will apply for an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) Set(O) 5-year route this month (June 2020). My child was born in the UK in January this year. I have obtained my child's birth certificate from the local council. Had it not been for COVID-19, my plans were these:
1. Apply for my ILR in June as usual without any priority service, i.e., a maximum of six month turnaround time.
2. Apply for my child's Indian passport by April 2020 followed by Tier-2 Dependent Child visa so that we could avail NHS without paying. I already had my child registered at the Indian Consulate in London and have the Indian Registration certificate. I was about to submit an application for the Indian passport in March, but we went under lockdown. VFS centre that accepts passport application got closed as well.

My revised plan is the following:
1. Apply for my ILR in June through Priority Service, which would help me get my ILR within or in 5 days. However, the Home Office is not accepting priority applications. I am guessing that getting an ILR outcome these days might take even more than six months.
2. After 5 days, apply for my child's British Citizenship. BTW, I am still not getting VFS appointment to submit an application for the Indian passport as they are getting quickly booked and new appointments are only updated on Fridays.

Given these exceptional circumstances, I was wondering if I could submit my child's application for British Citizenship while my ILR application is under review by the Home Office? I can provide a letter stating why I have done so along with my ILR application number. The main motivation for doing is mainly to avoid NHS asking us to pay for using their service.

[CR001]

2. Apply for my child's Indian passport by April 2020 followed by Tier-2 Dependent Child visa so that we could avail NHS without paying. I already had my child registered at the Indian Consulate in London and have the Indian Registration certificate. I was about to submit an application for the Indian passport in March, but we went under lockdown. VFS centre that accepts passport application got closed as well.

The child doesn't need a passport to apply for a visa or for citizenship. Also, look at the cost of taking out private medical insurance vs the visa and IHS cost.

1. Apply for my ILR in June through Priority Service, which would help me get my ILR within or in 5 days. However, the Home Office is not accepting priority applications. I am guessing that getting an ILR outcome these days might take even more than six months.

Priority service is still suspended and likely will be until the backlog since March is cleared.

2. After 5 days, apply for my child's British Citizenship. BTW, I am still not getting VFS appointment to submit an application for the Indian passport as they are getting quickly booked and new appointments are only updated on Fridays.

You can only apply for your child once you have ILR and your ILR BRP card. You should ask your Indian passport questions in the Other Countries sub forum further down the main forum page. These questions are not relevant in the British citizenship sub forum.

Given these exceptional circumstances, I was wondering if I could submit my child's application for British Citizenship while my ILR application is under review by the Home Office?

No you can't.

I can provide a letter stating why I have done so along with my ILR application number. The main motivation for doing is mainly to avoid NHS asking us to pay for using their service.

You cannot. You need to physically hold ILR before you can register your child as British.

[secret.simon]

Given these exceptional circumstances,

Understand the difference between the Immigration Rules, which is secondary legislation that the government can update quickly on their own, and the British Nationality Act, which is an Act of Parliament which can only be changed/updated by another Act of Parliament.

Generally Acts of Parliament take up to a year to go through both Houses, unless all parties agree to suspend the rules. So, if the rules around nationality/citizenship/naturalisation and registration need changing, it can take upto a year for the changes to be discussed and passed in both Houses.

It is not something that the government can set aside as it is "exceptional circumstances" (which they are).

[msjtargaryn]

Hi CR001 and secret.simon,
Many thanks for your response. What crucial comes out is that I can apply for the visa without the passport, which helps simply many things for me. I can quickly submit an application for my child.

Regarding paying the NHS surcharge in contrast to opting for private medical insurance, I do not mind paying the NHS fee or the visa fee. This is because since coming to the UK, we have used NHS services quite a lot, more than what we gave to the NHS monetarily I think, and are very thankful to the NHS for their care.

secret.simon's response makes it technically clear about why making such changes is not possible. Many thanks for such a wonderful response.

[CR001]

For a 3 year PBS Dependent visa for the child, you are looking at IHS of £1200 plus the visa fee and you need maintenance funds for 90 days.

[msjtargaryn]

Hi CR001,
I was planning that I apply for only a year's PBS Dependent visa for my child (IHS GBP 400), and subsequently, apply for British Citizenship once that visa is about to expire. This is because I would get my ILR by then (hopefully!).

[secret.simon]

I'm not sure you can apply for only a one year's extension. An extension is a standard length (about 2.5 years) and has fixed fees (including IHS).

So even if you intend to get ILR within a matter of months, you will have to pay for the full extension (including IHS).

[msjtargaryn]

Hi secret.simon,
I agree you are right. I should have checked this before responding CR001.

My answer was based on my experience: this year in January, I joined a new employer. My previous employer had issued me visa until July 9, 2020, starting December 2017. My new employer also kept the same expiry date i.e., July 9, 2020; only the CoS changed. This is because I was eligible for ILR after this expiry. When I applied for my Tier-2 (General) visa last year using the new employer's CoS, I only applied for six-months' visa and paid the usual full visa fee + GBP 200 (IHS only). I was hoping that it might be possible to do the same for dependents.

[msjtargaryn]

Hi,

It is indeed true that there is no such option as a six-month or a year Tier-2 (General) PBS Dependent visa extension. Also, as CR001 pointed out, one does not need a passport for the child born in the UK. The birth certificate issued by the local council is more than enough. I am writing this after filling the full PBS Tier-2 General Dependent online form (not paid anything yet). I thank both of you for clarifying the misconception that I had.

1. After I provided my Tier-2 (General) details including the expiry date, the IHS calculation is only GBP 400 for two applicants which includes my wife and my child. My wife's PBS Tier-2 Dependent is also expiring in July - the same date as mine. I introduced our child as another applicant on the form with my wife. This is very surprising!

2. I was just wondering if my child gets the Indian passport later, will there be any issues if the child travels outside the UK and comes back to the UK? I ask this because, at the time of applying for the dependent child visa, there is no record of the child's passport.

[CR001]

1. That is for a visa with the same expiry date as your current visa. When does your visa expire?? They also won't get an extension if your ilr fails.

2. He cannot travel out of the UK while an application is pending. If he has a visa, he can travel and return before the visa expires.

[msjtargaryn]

1. My visa expires on 9 July 2020; however, before this expiry, I will apply for my ILR, i.e., by June 25 2020. I thought that they would get up to 3 years extension automatically respective of the visa expiry of my visa. If my ILR fails, I understand that their visas automatically become invalid.

2. Thanks for clarifying regarding travelling outside of the UK for the child.

[CR001]

1. My visa expires on 9 July 2020; however, before this expiry, I will apply for my ILR, i.e., by June 25 2020. I thought that they would get up to 3 years extension automatically respective of the visa expiry of my visa. If my ILR fails, I understand that their visas automatically become invalid.

2. Thanks for clarifying regarding travelling outside of the UK for the child.

1. It is a 3 year extension. This is what the immigration rules state they will get and there is no discretion on it. For IHS you have to out your expiry date as 3 years from the date of application to get the correct 3 year IHS.

[msjtargaryn]

You are right, it has to be done this way so that the right amount is shown on the application. While the main application has not asked for my visa expiry, my visa expiry was only asked when I started to fill the IHS details on the external linked page.

I hope that the above is not regarded as giving false information, i.e., wrong visa expiry date. An alternative could be that I pay what is now shown, i.e., GBP 400 for two applicants, and I believe that the caseworker would ask me to top-up with the remaining amount later.

I thank you very much for your help!

[CR001]

I hope that the above is not regarded as giving false information, i.e., wrong visa expiry date.

It isn't. It is a known glitch in the system. Many have done this and had no issues.