Husband fled from the UK with Kids

[yellowbeetle]

My exhusband fled with the kids a day before their visa expired despite UK court hearing which said not to travel and there was a travel ban on the kids. The kids are not born here and neither are they British citizen. The kids were here as their fathers dependant, so was I. However, my visa route changed after out marriage broke down and the UK court had granted me visa under parent route private life visa. My visa is set to expire in December 2026. How can I bring them back to UK ?

Should you require any further details, please ask.

[yellowbeetle]

Just to clear - father is also not British.

[zimba]

Do you have any contact with the kids ?

[yellowbeetle]

Yes, limited time, father is around when N cal, but yes they have called. I have informed the police and they issued a yellow notice along with arrest warrant in all UK airports. However, given that the father will never return to the UK that is never going to be a concern for him.

I have been to a couple of solicitors for guidance but different solicotors jave given different advice and I am well confused. I wanted to see if anyone on here would have any guidance as this a matter of immigration and knowing what visa I could access for myself and the kids.

[zimba]

Does that mean you can bring the kids back to the UK without any issues caused by your ex ?

[yellowbeetle]

This is what I would like to know - I have a solicitor filing for custody right of my kids back in India, however, he wants to know once he does get this, how the kids can be brought back to the UK ? I am here on a parent visa which was granted to look after the kids who were dependants of the father while he was here. However, with them now having left after the father took them despite the court asking him not to travel ( regardless of his visa expiring and an active family court case existing here in the UK) and the kids themselves having a travel ban, I am not entirely where that leaves my kids and how I can bring them back here and under what visa.

[zimba]

What was the immigration status of your ex ?

[yellowbeetle]

He was here on a tier 2 dependant visa and both me and the kids had all come here as his dependants. He then filed for curtailment of my visa and with me fleeing with the kids to a safe place, he then filed for sole custody of the kids in the UK family court. The court granted me shared custody , we me having 5 days with the kids and 2 days with their dad. The kids are 5 and 11. On the basis of this child arrangement order, I was granted parent route private life visa with recourse to public funds which helped with looking after the kids. I also was granted my divorce through the UK courts. He was, however, holding the kids passport and never returned it all this time. During this time, he lost his job and his visa expired on the 11th, before which he filed another case to take the kids back as his visa was set to expire and claimed that I could have visitation rights to see them back in India (!!!!!). To this, the judge put a hold and asked for him to request a visa extension given that a decision needs to be made about the kids and how to proceed. The next hearing is in 23 weeks in the time when CAFCASS would have required to submit a report and both our solicitors would have required to see what application can be put forth for me to stay back in the country once my current visa expired. It was during this time, that he fleed the country.

[zimba]

If you are here under any immigration route, then the kids will be issued visas in line with yours. This is not a big issue in my view.

Your issue is not just a matter of brining children here but getting the children to join you here. If your husband prevents them from coming to the UK, then this is no longer an immigration matter. This is a complex legal matter (not an immigration one) which potentially involves the jurisdictions of Indian courts. You should seek proper legal advice

[CR001]

If you are here under any immigration route, then the kids will be issued visas in line with yours. This is not a big issue in my view.

Op has a visa based on children private life route after marriage broke down. If children are no longer in the uk, then this is an issue. My understanding is that Op cannot sponsor the children for a visa under her current visa route.

[zimba]

But how come she cannot bring them back then ? I do not see why this will be a problem unless as I said the ex prevents the kids from coming back

[secret.simon]

But how come she cannot bring them back then ? I do not see why this will be a problem unless as I said the ex prevents the kids from coming back

On what basis can she bring the children back to the UK? The children themselves were dependent on the father, whose visa has expired. The visa of the children would have been co-terminous with the father (the main applicant) and therefore would have expired as well.

The ex-wife was/is dependent on the children's presence in the UK for her status. If the children don't have a status or residence in the UK, she doesn't have one either.

At the moment, essentially, there is no main applicant, just a person dependent on the dependents of a main applicant who has left the UK.

In this case, i would suggest to the ex-wife to get a Skilled Worker visa quickly so as to stabilise her own situation before attempting to sponsor her children back to the UK. But I do not see any route for her to remain in the UK on the basis of her own or her children's previous visas.

[zimba]

I am confused by this case, I thought she was granted leave under private life route. Maybe I misunderstood her immigration status

[secret.simon]

On the basis of this child arrangement order, I was granted parent route private life visa with recourse to public funds which helped with looking after the kids.

She was indeed granted a private life visa, likely on the basis of Article 8 of the ECHR (the right to a family life), so that she could continue to share custody of her children who were in the UK.

But if the children are not in the UK, the whole premise of the private life visa fails. And the basis of her children's residence in the UK was their father's visa. So in a way, her status was/is dependent on her children's residence in the UK, which in turn was based on their father's residence in the UK. As that has come to an end, the whole edifice comes crashing down.

The ex-wife is of course free to attempt to switch to another visa that she may be eligible for. But I don't think she would qualify for an extension of her private life visa because there is no family life in the UK that can be the basis of an application under Article 8.

[narrative321]

On the basis of this child arrangement order, I was granted parent route private life visa with recourse to public funds which helped with looking after the kids.

She was indeed granted a private life visa, likely on the basis of Article 8 of the ECHR (the right to a family life), so that she could continue to share custody of her children who were in the UK.

But if the children are not in the UK, the whole premise of the private life visa fails. And the basis of her children's residence in the UK was their father's visa. So in a way, her status was/is dependent on her children's residence in the UK, which in turn was based on their father's residence in the UK. As that has come to an end, the whole edifice comes crashing down.

The ex-wife is of course free to attempt to switch to another visa that she may be eligible for. But I don't think she would qualify for an extension of her private life visa because there is no family life in the UK that can be the basis of an application under Article 8.

The poster states her children are not British, and we're not born here. How does one argue "human rights" to get status.

[secret.simon]

The poster states her children are not British, and we're not born here. How does one argue "human rights" to get status.

The ex-wife was given shared custody of the children by a UK family court,and it is likely that she was given a private life visa on human rights grounds for her to share the custody of the children while they were in the UK.

Now that the children are no longer in the UK, I suspect that the private life visa would fail when due for renewal.

Even assuming that she were to be able to extend the private life visa (which I doubt, as the entire basis has moved abroad), to the best of my knowledge (and I could be wrong on this. I am not a lawyer), a person on a private life visa can't sponsor family members to the UK. It is a standalone visa and the OP would only be able to sponsor family after ILR, which will likely be after 10 years, by which time the children may be too old to be sponsored (they can't be sponsored as family members after their 18th birthday).

Which is why my advice has been that the ex-wife needs to find another basis of staying in the UK, such as by switching to a Skilled Worker visa, which would allow her to sponsor her children back to the UK. One advantage that she has is that she is already legally resident in the UK at the moment, which means that she can apply for jobs open to legal residents and can give interviews in person, at least while her private life visa is still active.

[lolo2]

Which is why my advice has been that the ex-wife needs to find another basis of staying in the UK, such as by switching to a Skilled Worker visa, which would allow her to sponsor her children back to the UK.

But even if she switches to a Skilled Worker visa, she won't be able to bring her children back to the UK as her dependants without the other parent's consent. From her relate, this would be difficult to obtain.

On top of the immigration issues, this case looks complex involving many elements not immigration related.

[secret.simon]

But even if she switches to a Skilled Worker visa, she won't be able to bring her children back to the UK as her dependants without the other parent's consent. From her relate, this would be difficult to obtain

I concur. What I meant was that if she were to become a Skilled Worker visa holder, she had the ability to sponsor her children, unlike her current private life visa, which does not have that ability.

At the moment, under her private life visa, even if she acquires sole custody in India or her husband relented and gave permission for the children to leave India, there is no visa category that they can apply under to move back to the UK.

[yellowbeetle]

Thanks for all the comments , this is exactly what a lot of the solicitors themselves are debating and saying.
The only other route that xxxxxxx - a top 500 solicitor has suggested is requesting leave to remain claiming domestic abuse ( which the court is already aware of and included in the case files for the divorce here in the UK). Again, I was told this could take around 1 - 2 years depending on when the decision is made and the kids can be brought back. I dont want to lose 2 years of my kids in the process, but again, willing to consider this if this is something that can see a way out.
Are there any other routes that I could try. Anything around EHCR?

[zimba]

The domestic violence route requires someone to be in the UK under the family route

[yellowbeetle]

Slightly vonfused - you mean the kids need to be here to be able to claim via this route?

[CR001]

Slightly vonfused - you mean the kids need to be here to be able to claim via this route?

No, you need to be on the relevant qualifying visa to claim domestic violence. It applies to spouses of ILR holders or British citizens. Your ex doesn't appear to be either and you dont hold a family route visa.