Applying for UK passport and settlement visa for daughter - advice very welcome!

 Hi there,

I'm new to the phorum and have a billion questions regarding my move to the UK that seem to be impossible to find answers to. So, I'm really hoping that I might be able to find some advice on this site.

Here's my situation:

I have been offered a permanent job in the UK starting in January and will be moving there with my 14 yo daughter. I am NZ born with UK parents and currently live in Australia. I had a UK passport as a child which I am unable to access so will be applying for a new one. It is my understanding that the best visa to apply for for my daughter is a settlement visa - and it is this that most of my questions relate to.

1. I understand I will be my daughter's sponsor. However the application form requires details about accommodation in the UK. Obviously I won't have permanent accommodation until after I arrive there. Our plan is to spend the first couple of weeks staying with colleagues. However, I gather that this is insufficient for the application and that what they want is evidence that I have a permanent home for us both. How do I manage this?

2. Regarding adequate income. I will have a letter from my employer stating my income - which is enough to provide for us both adequately (from what I can gather from information on the internet). However, I think I also have to provide evidence of current income. I have held a job regularly, with a reasonable income, but have very little savings. Everything I have managed to save will be spent over the next few months on the passports, visas and so on - so by the time I send off the forms I will have very little money at all in my bank account. Before I leave I will have managed to save some more money, but this will be after the application has been sent off - and won't be a substantial amount, but hopefully enough to eat, pay a rental deposit and so on, before I start receiving my UK pay. I am worried that all this will mean I won't have evidence of adequate savings, and that my future income will be less relevant for all this. Anyone know more about this?

3. As my daughter's sponsor I also need to fill in the 'Sponsorship Undertaking' (SU07) Form. However, I must be resident in the UK to fill this in? What do I do about this?

4. As a single parent I currently receive tax benefits and rent assistance from the government. I have also filed for child support from my daughter's father. Is this going to affect my application in any way?

Okay, I think that will do for now. I would be hugely grateful if anyone has any advice or information on any of these matters. After reading posts on this website, I'm now not only worried about figuring out how to apply, but about having the application rejected!  Thanks in advance.

So, I think I may have found some answers to some of my questions.

Regarding adequate maintenance - there is no set figure. I am presuming that once I provide evidence of regular payslips, my postgrad qualifications, my UK job contract with salary on it, my bank statements, and perhaps a letter arguing the 'adequacy' of all this (is it okay to include letters like this?) that it will all be okay.

The tax credits and other government assistance I receive should not be a problem as I do not rely exclusively on these and could technically get by without them.

The burning question, however, is how I am to be my daughter's sponsor without being settled there yet, and how to answer the questions about accommodation?

My newest question is whether I will definitely get the UK passport - I had one as a child (now unavailable) so have to apply for a 'first-time passport' according to the passport helpline. However, it turns out my father was born in Northern Ireland, although I am pretty sure he lived his whole life in Britain, and his dad was British. If I just send his birth certificate (and parent's marriage certificate), will I need further evidence of his British citizenship, or can they find this by looking up his passport?

Thanks.

Can't answer any of your other questions, but Northern Ireland is part of the UK, which means your father is British...so just send his passport.

If you previously had a UK passport, I would send what information you have in a covering letter (especially if you've had a name change due to marriage), i.e., what it's start and expiration dates were, things like that.

As your daughters sponsor you'll just need to provide proof of income and or resources to maintain her without her needing public funds. You, however, as a UK Citizen are allowed to claim any benefits that you are eligible for, you just can't get MORE benefits because she is in your home.

As far as accommodation, you can be allowed to live with a friend or a relative provided that it meets the 'Adequate Accommodation' requirement set forth by UKBA. This friend or relative would also need to provide you with a written statement regarding the property (size, number of rooms & number of people residing at the property). If the accommodation is owned then they would need to also provide the deed or a current mortgage statement. If the property is rented then they would need to provide a copy of their lease agreement AND a written statement from the landlord allowing you and your child to reside at the property until further accommodations can be made.

Here is the specific link to Dependants: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/maintenanceaccommodation#18177492 and the section on Settlement for Children: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/settlement/children.

Please pay special attention to the section regarding 'Sole Responsibility' since you are not mentioning her father in any of your posts. You will either need a Certified/Notarised letter from him stating that he approves of her visa application or you will need legal court documents giving you Sole Physical & Legal Custody or in the case that he may be deceased, a copy of his death certificate.

Thank you for your replies.

juliloew - you suggested I send in my father's passport, but my understanding is that his birth certificate and passport number is sufficient?

Thanks WebyJ for this information. I suppose my query related more to how proof of income and/or resources were assessed, and the extent to which current vs future (i.e. UK) earnings counted. It's good to know that the friend/colleague with whom we are staying needs to provide this information. If they hadn't offered me a place to stay and we had had to stay in a hotel until we found a place, we wouldn't get the visa would we?

I have also discovered something that solves my biggest question about the 'sponsorship undertaking' form which can only be filled out by someone 'present and settled in the UK'. I realized that the form is only needed if the application is from the "parents, grandparents and other dependant relatives under Rule 317 of the Immigration Rules". I had taken my daughter to be an 'other dependent relative' - but this is not the case according to Rule 317. I am so relieved you wouldn't believe it!!

Thanks for your advice regarding sole responsibility. I have contacted my daughter's father to ask if he would be willing to write such a letter. I am really hoping he agrees. We were never together after her birth and he has seen her just once (just recently for four days) in the past nine years and hasn't paid child support for that time. I'm worried he might see this as an opportunity to be difficult - but if that's the case I'll apply for sole custody and will be bound to get it. I am considering writing the letter for him and will include information such as:

- it is okay for her to settle permanently in the UK
- I have sole responsibility for parental care, including financial maintenance and decisions about things such as school, health care etc ...
- He has had virtually no contact with her since the age of four - with the exception of a few hours when she was five, and four days when she was 14.
Does that sound okay? Too much information? Should I just get basic permission from him and then add the other information in the 'other information' box on the form?

I wonder how child support comes into this though. I recently had to lodge an application for child support from him (in order to get the tax credits in Australia) which would require him to pay a monthly amount and possible back payments. I don't want or need this money from him but have been required to seek it. I'm not sure whether this will impact on my claims of full financial responsibility - and also whether he will be cross about this money being sought and therefore be difficult regarding the letter. If there is one ray of hope it is that once we are in the UK he will not be required to provide child support as far as I can tell.   

Sorry for writing such long posts with so many concerns and questions. 

Future Earnings -- unless you have actually secured a job and can produce a letter from your employer in the UK stating the terms of your contract, there really is no such thing and you'll need to produce proof of savings in order to meet the maintenance requirement.

In your case, from what you have written, you meet the Sole responsibility factor. However, getting it in writing from the father is really the best way to go. You may want to include the line that he 'approves of and asks that the settlement visa be issued for your daughter'. The letter needs to be detailed as you have described and notarised as well. There has been recent discussion on the forum that the only way to have true security is to get the sole legal & physical custody document from the courts as his permission letter can be revoked at anytime and a court order cannot without due process. Just something you may want to consider.

I'm not an immigration or child support expert, however I do believe that there are those on the forum who are still receiving child support for their children whilst in the UK and received visas for them as well. Though having the sole physical & legal custody court order that details that he has maintained no contact with the child would go to secure your position and still maintain your right to child support.

For future earnings, I do have a job lined up (which prompted my move over there) and a contract with my salary stated. So, this will help my case if my savings are perhaps not as much as they should be?

I have heard from my daughter's father who is happy to give his permission - phew! I think I will write something along the lines of what I mentioned above and send it to him to sign and have it notarised. I really hope it's enough to get the visa, as I can't afford to get custody at this point - what with all the other costs involved in all this.

For future earnings, I do have a job lined up (which prompted my move over there) and a contract with my salary stated. So, this will help my case if my savings are perhaps not as much as they should be?

If you have a job offer and a copy of your contract stating what your salary is then what you need is enough for living expenses plus whatever the income support amount would be for a person in your situation of £50.95 for Lone Parent plus £56.11 for your daughter totalling £107.06 per week. If your salary will not be enough it can be supplemented with savings.

Since you actually have a job that you're going to go to, your situation is somewhat different from someone applying to get a visa with the hope of obtaining a job once they get there.

I have heard from my daughter's father who is happy to give his permission - phew! I think I will write something along the lines of what I mentioned above and send it to him to sign and have it notarised. I really hope it's enough to get the visa, as I can't afford to get custody at this point - what with all the other costs involved in all this.

My non professional opinion is you should be ok with that as others have been in the past.

Great about the future income being enough. My daughter's father is also happy to sign a letter. My worries are slowly dissipating!

One more question. The people I will be staying with when I first arrive have sent scanned copies of a mortgage letter and mortgage statement. Will these be okay or do I really need to send in originals? If originals are really necessary they would need to mail them to me, and I imagine they would want to hang on to the original copies anyway? Would I also need to send an original copy of my job contract? Will having these signed by a notary be enough? They say you don't have to send everything on the list, so I was wondering whether copies would be okay in the first instance ... any thoughts/advice on this?

You really need to have original documents OR ceritified/notarised copies of those documents.