Seeking advice on Tier 1 to ILR (self and wife)

[asaxena3]

Hi all. I happen to be a newbie here, so please accept my apologies if my questions appear silly.

My current status is as follows: I've been in the UK for 7+ yrs, of which first year was as a student. Since then its been a combination of workpermits and Tier 1 (General). My current Tier 1 General leave expires at the end of Dec 2013. My wife has been living with me as a PBS-Dependant since June 2011. Both of us renewed our visas in Dec 2011, when it was extended for 2 years.

I believe I am eligible for ILR, and am looking to book an appointment soon. Me and Wife have both passed Life in the UK test.

Now, the questions:
1) Do I need to switch my wife from PBS Dependant to ILR Dependant, if I switch from Tier 1 General to ILR? She is not a doctor or a dentist.

2) I might not have all entry/exit stamps on my passport as I was registered for IRIS for 2-3 years in between. Where do I get the dates-traveled information from?

3) Would it make sense to wait until June 2013, and apply for ILR when my wife has completed 2 years in the UK as a Dependant? Can she apply for a (non-dependant) ILR visa then? I ask because I don't want to spend £££ on switching myself to ILR and her to ILR-dependant now, then spend more £££ to switch my wife to non-dependant ILR in 6 months, and then spend yet more £££ on getting both of us naturalized.

4) Would anyone have an idea how long the postal application for ILR takes these days?


Thanks a ton

Abhishek

[hpat]

1) Do I need to switch my wife from PBS Dependant to ILR Dependant, if I switch from Tier 1 General to ILR? She is not a doctor or a dentist.
Yes when you switch visa your dependent needs to change correct visa accordingly as well.
2) I might not have all entry/exit stamps on my passport as I was registered for IRIS for 2-3 years in between. Where do I get the dates-traveled information from?
Not sure how IRIS works but as long as you are within limit of holidays don't worry about that. They will find out when you entered into country.
3) Would it make sense to wait until June 2013, and apply for ILR when my wife has completed 2 years in the UK as a Dependant? Can she apply for a (non-dependant) ILR visa then? I ask because I don't want to spend £££ on switching myself to ILR and her to ILR-dependant now, then spend more £££ to switch my wife to non-dependant ILR in 6 months, and then spend yet more £££ on getting both of us naturalized.
Yes it makes sense to apply together to save some money. No when you apply for ILR and wife as well for ILR she is not on dependent anymore. And after she completes 5 years in UK (one year on ILR) then she will be eligible for naturalization.
4) Would anyone have an idea how long the postal application for ILR takes these days?
Can take from 3 months to 1 year.

[geriatrix]

1) Do I need to switch my wife from PBS Dependant to ILR Dependant, if I switch from Tier 1 General to ILR? She is not a doctor or a dentist.
Yes when you switch visa your dependent needs to change correct visa accordingly as well.

No.

[asaxena3]

Thanks a LOT, everyone, for your replies.

sushd and hpat - your replies to my first question seem to be contradicting each other. Please could you let me know where you sourced your respective replies from?

My own understanding of this was that my wife's dependant visa needs renewal/change each time I renew or change my own visa (i.e. same as what hpat wrote). However, after reading through these forums, it seemed that perhaps it wasn't required after all. Needless to say, the dependant's visa expense nearly doubles the cost of my own visa, and so I am keen to be armed with solid knowledge.


Thanks once again for your help everyone. Have to say, this is the first time I have signed up for ANY sort of online forum, and this seems incredibly useful to me so far!

Abhishek.

[geriatrix]

Your partner's PBS leave will leave remain valid until the leave is curtailed (323) or expires, or when she is subject to removal.

See also FAQs for ILR - WP/Tier 2/HSMP/Tier 1 - Read before posting