Years of VISA and IHS fee for dependants (for citizenship)

Stage 2
1

Background:

  • I just got endorsed for the Talent route, and I plan to bring 3 dependants.
  • I plan to get ILR (in 3 years) and British citizenship (another 1 year) respectively. I understand that after getting ILR, I shall not require to pay IHS any further.
  • I have no constraint to pay IHS for 5 years for 4 persons.

Multiple Questions

  • [Q1] In my case, “How many years of visa should I apply and pay IHS for”? 3, 4 or 5 years, in order to get ILR and then later stop paying IHS?
  • [Q2] Can I apply the length-of-visa for dependents differently to me? Let’s say 3 years for myself and 5 years for my dependents.
  • [Q3] Are there any risks/concerns about extending the visa for my dependents?
  • [Q4] Once I get ILR, can I apply IRL to my less-than-10-year-old children and spouse?
    .

Reference I have:
- I understand that “You will not get a refund if you’re applying for indefinite leave to remain” (Reference)
- I know that “The earliest you can apply is 28 days before you’ve met the requirements for the time you need to have lived in the UK” (Reference)
*- Extend your visa guideline (Reference)

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Q1 - As per my view you should apply for 3 years. Once you finish 3 year spawn you can apply for ILR. It’s same as all other visa but in Talent and Innovative Visa you can apply for ILR after 3 years.

Q2 - yes as long as they are your dependent and you have valid visa you can apply. Technically before you finish 3 year you should be able to apply for IRL (i.e 28 days before) so your visa continuety will be maintained and there won’t be any issue for the dependants. Just make sure you apply on time to avoid any gap in your visa status

Q3 - There is no problem extending dependent visa but I think if you apply for 5 years you won’t need to extend. They will be able to apply for IRL

Q4 - No. They need to stay as dependant as their continual period won’t be 5 years when you apply. As per my knowledge they need to spend 5 years in the UK in order to be eligible for IRL

Hope this helps you

Thanks

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Thank you @Alexandr

Q5: Additionally, do you know if I get the British citizenship in 4 years, can I immediately apply the citizenship to my children (under 18 years old) right away without waiting for their 5 years continual period.

4

I do not think you can… No one can directly become citizen even if they are dependant. They need to spend required time in the UK then apply for IRL and after a year they can be citizen.

One of my friends has recently followed this process. He was citizen already and brought his wife from abroad. She had to stay 5 years even her husband was already citizen. Last year she applied for ILR after staying 5 years… So regardless of your visa status every dependent has to spend required time to be elibigle for IRL… If dependent get Exceptional telent thent it’s diffent :slight_smile:

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Can I confirm that your friend has / you were referring to the children under 18?

The reason I ask is that I am confused after seeing this, regardless of Global Talent Visa topic… https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-born-uk/under-18

If you’re under 18
You can register to become a British citizen if one of your parents considered the UK as their home and did any of the following after you were born:
-became a British citizen
-got indefinite leave to remain in the UK

What do you think once again?

6

Sorry I was in impression that you were talking about your wife only… My bad

for Under 18 it’s true. My friend has 3 children and all of the are british citizen. Youngest one is not even 5 year old

yet their mother is still on ILR

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According to this if they were born in uk they can apply for citizenship when you have ilr. Otherwise they have to wait for both parents to settle for ilr https://www.gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain-business-investor-global-talent/family-members

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Nice. Thanks @Alexandr and @vudu

Then I undertstand that, if I would like to avoid the visa extension activity in the later day, at this stage 2, I shall apply the visa and pay IHS as per following.

  • Myself = 3 years
  • my children who are under 18 year old = 5 years.
    (Not 4 years still since there is a lead time of me to get British citizenship first, before applying for my children.)
  • my spouse = 5 years
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I just applied for Stage 2 visa and as per my understanding:

Q1 - Yes, you can apply for 3, 4 or 5 years. For safe side, I applied for 5 years so that if I miss any year then can apply ILR after completing 3 years in UK.
Q2 - As far as I know, length-of-visa for dependents cannot be different to main applicant as their visa is connected to your visa. That was also one of the reason I applied for 5 years for me so that they don’t have to renew their dependent visa.
Q3 - Shouldn’t be as long as your visa is valid
Q4 - No, they have to complete 5 years and then apply for ILR.

Also, on your point: “I plan to get ILR (in 3 years) and British citizenship (another 1 year) respectively.” => As per my understanding, you can get ILR after 3 years but you will get British citizenship after completing 5 years in UK.

This is purely based on my research. Let me know if I got any point wrong.

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10

For exceptional talent you get it 1 year after your ILR. It is 4 years not 5 years.

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11

Official documentation looks bit contradicting:

You can apply for citizenship if you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years and have had one of the following for 12 months:

They haven’t mentioned any exception, unlike for ILR where they have mentioned exception for Global Talent Visa:

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Hey! The reason is due to the fact that the general rule states that you can apply for citizenship 12 months after receiving your ILR. I’m also confused here as there is a minimum amount of time per year that you have to stay in the UK but for ILR it’s only 6 months. So can you stay 6 months per year for 3 years, apply to ILR and then after 12 months apply for citizenship?

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13

It is 5 years for citizenship. Not 4 in this case

14

For exceptional talent you can apply for citizenship after 4 years. There are other recipients of the global talent visa who already applied for citizenship. The criteria for citizenship is 1 year after ILR for those in GTV, this is not applicable for people on other routes

15

Another requirement is to be in the UK 5 years before you apply for citizenship. Of course is possible after 4 years but not for someone that doesn’t live here.

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Eligibility and fees

You can apply for citizenship if you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years and have had one of the following for 12 months:

  • indefinite leave to remain in the UK
  • ‘settled status’ (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme’)
  • indefinite leave to enter the UK (permission to move to the UK permanently from abroad)

You do not need to wait 12 months to apply if you’re [married to a British citizen]

You must also:

  • be over 18
  • prove you were in the UK exactly 5 years before the day the Home Office receives your application
  • prove your knowledge of English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic
  • have passed the life in the UK test
  • intend to continue living in the UK
  • be of good character -
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@Francisca_Chiedu Do you know if that person had lived in the UK before that 4-year period, before getting the British citizenship*?

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It depends on which visa he or she lived and also if there is any gap staying abroad in in that visa period. You can calculate timing of combination of visas

22

@alexnk, What was your conclusion? I appreciate it if you summarized your case. Thanks.