Fiance visa to Marriage visa in the UK (non-dependant child question)

Hello everyone! Just popping back here for the next stage of my journey. Last April, I received my UK fiance visa to get married here in the UK on a settlement route. We were just married last week in the first week of June. Now comes the next step of converting my fiance visa to a spouse visa. From my understanding, we can apply and complete this step while here in the UK.

I have started looking over the application process and filling in the online UK application to get a feel of what documents will be required. During this, I hit a big stumbling block when it comes to asking about "Non Applying Children". I started filling out this section with the information about my 10 year old son from a previous relationship. He is a British citizen by birth to his British mother and residing here in the UK. His mother and I were never married and were split / in different countries at his birth.

Per UK rules, I was never put on the Birth Certificate at the time of the birth registration. I therefore have no parental rights. However, I do have a relationship with my son. We see each other weekly, but the relationship with his mother is strenuous at best. When I started filling out this UK visa application form, it informed me that I would need documentation proving his mother's residence (bills etc in her name), my son's passport and foreign travel reported, amongst other things.

I guess my question here is, as I am not on the birth certificate nor have any parental rights, should I even be reporting him at all? I have a feeling his mother will not play ball if / when the time comes to collect supporting documentation from her. (She is still bitter about me coming to the UK for someone else.) Knowing this is for my spousal visa isn't going to make things any easier.

Desperately need some advice on how to proceed with this.

List that you have a son but that you do not appear on the birth certificate.  And as a result, cannot request a copy of the birth certificate or records proving where he lives.

It’ll be fine.  But don’t say you don’t have a child, as that’s deception and a MUCH bigger deal than not being able to access those documents.

List that you have a son but that you do not appear on the birth certificate.  And as a result, cannot request a copy of the birth certificate or records proving where he lives.

It’ll be fine.  But don’t say you don’t have a child, as that’s deception and a MUCH bigger deal than not being able to access those documents.

You can request a copy of his brith certificate as anybody can have these, but this will not prove you are the father as your name is not listed as such. If he was born in England or Wales, you can order a certified copy of his birth certificate here-
 https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp

 In the UK, the married man has his name put on the birth certificate of a child his wife has, even if he is not the biological father. For an unmarreid mother, a partner can only have his name on the bitrth certificate if both he and the mother agree to this.

The father not being listed on his birth certificate, won't stop the mother chasing you for mainentance via the Child Support Agency because if she tells them you are the father they will expect you to pay, unless a DNA test proves the child is not yours. Government departments now share information and as said, decpetion on applications is a serious offence in the UK and leads to a ban, even if the what they hid would not have got a visa refusal. Deception is viewed so seriously in the UK that British citizenship can be removed over deception on any application and their settlement status that they held before they were granted citizenship, is not returned.

If your present relationship breaks down and you can prove you have a  British citizen child who lives in the UK and that you have a relaiontionship with him, you can use him to get a visa to the UK.  Something that would be hard to do if you didn't mention him on this application, plus you would also be telling the Home Office that you didn't fill in the application honestly before.

Thanks for the replies.

I had already filed for my son's birth certificate and it has already arrived by post. (Crazy to me that any random stranger can have these sent to them.) As expected, I am not on the birth certificate. Hence why I came here to question the way forward. I will ask for the required documents, but I don't see his mother handing me utility bills, his passport, and other docs.

This leads to my next question, during the online application it specifically states:

"I confirm I will provide:
Evidence of where [MY SON'S] other parent lives - such as utility bills." (note "bills" is plural)

Exactly how many documents are they asking for here? One utility bill? 10?

You can understand my frustration with this.

Thanks for the replies.

I had already filed for my son's birth certificate and it has already arrived by post. (Crazy to me that any random stranger can have these sent to them.) As expected, I am not on the birth certificate. Hence why I came here to question the way forward. I will ask for the required documents, but I don't see his mother handing me utility bills, his passport, and other docs.

This leads to my next question, during the online application it specifically states:

"I confirm I will provide:
Evidence of where [MY SON'S] other parent lives - such as utility bills." (note "bills" is plural)

Exactly how many documents are they asking for here? One utility bill? 10?

You can understand my frustration with this.

Usually a parent would provide a letter from the school or GP stating their address, dated within the last 90 days.

All you need to do is write in a covering letter that you are unable to obtain that information as his mother won’t provide it and you do not have parental responsibility.

Still frustratingly trying to find my way forward with this. I actually called the UK Visas and Immigration help line (https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk/y/inside-the-uk/general-immigration-enquiries) who were of no use whatsoever. Their default answer to nearly every question is posed was to hire an immigration lawyer! How is it that I am seeking clarification of questions that UKVI are asking, yet they can't even give an answer how to fill in their own online application form!?

I also asked for clarification on the "type of visa" when converting from fiance to spouse within the UK is "Family" or "Settlement" (consensus here on the forum is they are one and the same). Their response was to also seek an immigration lawyer. .. How absurd.

Guess I just needed to vent somewhere.

Still frustratingly trying to find my way forward with this. I actually called the UK Visas and Immigration help line (https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk/y/inside-the-uk/general-immigration-enquiries) who were of no use whatsoever. Their default answer to nearly every question is posed was to hire an immigration lawyer! How is it that I am seeking clarification of questions that UKVI are asking, yet they can't even give an answer how to fill in their own online application form!?

I also asked for clarification on the "type of visa" when converting from fiance to spouse within the UK is "Family" or "Settlement" (consensus here on the forum is they are one and the same). Their response was to also seek an immigration lawyer. .. How absurd.

Guess I just needed to vent somewhere.

They are just a call centre ... it's all a bit of a money making scam...