Spouse Visa - can we postpone travel for Dependent Child

[flann]

Hi there.

I'm helping my friend (British) apply for his wife from Kosovo to come to live with him in the UK. We have completed (not submitted) all the necessary forms and she has completed her English Language test etc.

She has a 9 year old child from a previous marriage (divorced). Her ex-husband is happy for the child to go to the UK with her and has signed a letter to that effect. We are also going to seek a more formal confirmation of the mother's sole responsibility through the courts in Kosovo but i'm not sure how long that will take. Again the child's father is supportive of her moving to the UK. he has had no involvement in the child's upbringing (financial or other) for many years.

The wife and child live with the wife's parents and, to minimise disruption to the child's education, they want the child to be included on the application but want to allow the child to remain in Kosovo for 12 months to continue with her school; with a view to her joining her mother in the UK 12-months after the mother arrives.

Does anyone know the rules/mechanism for this please? Is there a limit on how long one can postpone her travel to the UK? Do we even need to declare this? I guess if she (along with the mother) is issued with a UK Visa under this application, she will need to use the Visa for travel within a certain period? Will she be limited in how long she (the 9 year old) can remain outside of the UK once her visa has been issued?

Thanks

Flann

[CR001]

Suggest apply for the child when the child is ready to move.

If a visa is approved, they only get a 30 day visa vignette and must enter the UK within that time. Unless the child can travel to the UK, collect their BRP card and return to Kosovo.

There is no absence limit for children, if that is your concern.

[flann]

Thank you. We were originally considering what you suggest which is to defer the child's application until she's ready to travel. Unfortunately, the form for the mum's application requires that she declare any dependants and we do not want to prejudice their ability to bring the child over to the UK in due course. The mum is very keen to move now and leave the child living with her mum (the child's grandmother) for another 6-12 months before bringing her over.

Given that there is no absence limit for children then we could just apply for both to come to the UK. They could both get their visas and move to the UK as soon as the visas are issued. Then (a couple of weeks later) they could take the child back to Kosovo to stay with the grandparents so that she could continue her education and, when they are ready, the mum could go back to Kosovo and bring her child (who will still have a valid visa) back to her new home in the UK.

Does that makes sense?

Thanks.

flann.

[CR001]

Thank you. We were originally considering what you suggest which is to defer the child's application until she's ready to travel. Unfortunately, the form for the mum's application requires that she declare any dependants and we do not want to prejudice their ability to bring the child over to the UK in due course. The mum is very keen to move now and leave the child living with her mum (the child's grandmother) for another 6-12 months before bringing her over.

It won't jeopordise any future application. Not sure why you believe it would. The form merely asks for children to be stated. A cover letter explaining will suffice on why the child is applying later.

Given that there is no absence limit for children then we could just apply for both to come to the UK. They could both get their visas and move to the UK as soon as the visas are issued. Then (a couple of weeks later) they could take the child back to Kosovo to stay with the grandparents so that she could continue her education and, when they are ready, the mum could go back to Kosovo and bring her child (who will still have a valid visa) back to her new home in the UK.

Should be fine.