two issues before applying to ILR

[akgunozsoy]

1. my child was born in germany and she has a german travel passport. when we first came to uk, she did not need any visa. as a turkish national, we granted WP with my wife, then switched to hsmp. on our 3rd year, we got a turkish passport for my daughter and when we are switching to tier-1, i have applied for her as well. she got a dependant visa on her turkish passport now till 2012. this summer we will apply for ILR because we will complete 5 years. but my daughter's visa is only 1 year old, can we apply for ILR for her as well?

2. as she had german passport, we were thinking that she had rights to apply for child benefit. we applied and we are paid for 2 years. but now I am unsure about that so I called HMRC and suspended this. HMRC told me that they will check this again. How should I tell this to HM when applying for ILR?

Thanks in advance.

Akgun

[John]

Personally I know nothing about German nationality law. So the question is .... is she a German Citizen?

That is central to the benefit question that you ask.

[akgunozsoy]

Personally I know nothing about German nationality law. So the question is .... is she a German Citizen?

That is central to the benefit question that you ask.

yes, she has german and turkish citizenships. she should choose one of them when is 18.

our plan is to cancel german citizenship when we get british citizenship for all of us.

can we get child benefit when we are working with hsmp/tier-1 but our daughter is german?

[John]

Actually, on looking into this further, the situation is "looking good" for you.

Please download this Home Office document. Having done so, go to page 4 of 7 where you will see Turkey included in the list of countries under the heading of "My home country has a social security agreement with the UK or the EU - am I eligible for any benefits?".

You will see that the entitlement includes Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit. So no problem claiming those benefits. And whilst you mention Child Benefit, there is also an entitlement to claim Child Tax Credits.

From the Immigration Rules point of view, how does this work? Although the two benefits are within the Public Funds definition as in para 6 of the Immigration Rules, following para 6 are three small paras, which effectively alter the Public Funds definition as in para 6. For you para 6B is in play, and the relevant part of that reads (with my emphasis) :-

.... a person (P) shall not be regarded as having recourse to public funds if P is entitled to benefits specified ....

-: and then detailing the relevant legislation.

Daughter has only had her visa for one year? Not a problem as regards getting her ILR, at the same time as you. That is, apply for her at the same time as you apply, and the decision for her will be the same as for yourself.