How to apply for child to join parent visa?

[jobday]

Hello all,
Really hoping that some of you good people can help us out!
My wife has her spousal visa and we have been living in the UK for the past 18 months (I am a UK citizen but we lived overseas for many years) Both our children have british passports and birth certificates.
We would now like my wifes daughter, who is in the Phillipines, to come and join us but are very lost on which form to download and also none of the forms seem to come with explination notes. We contacted the agent that has an ad on the UKBA web site but they will charge 750GBP just to prepare the application, we also contacted an agent in the Phillipines and they wanted 85000PHP, again to prepare the application.
If I could just work out the correct form to use and the paper work needed for the application I am confident I could prepare and submit it myself ( with some very kind help from the great folk on here!) Any pointers would be great!

Thank you all in advance!

Jobday

[grahamw48]

Hi Jobday.

You really shouldn't need an agent.

I brought over my 2 stepchildren, but it was quite a few years ago now, so I'm not up to date with the latest regs.

You will certainly need to demonstrate (with proof) that she has indeed been DEPENDENT upon you and your partner...on a continuous basis while she's been in the Phils.

What is the situation with the child's biological father ? He will probably need to be consulted.

Someone will be along soon with accurate advice and web links for you. :xxgrinning--00xx3:

Oh, and I'm assuming the child is less than 18 years old of course.

[Marie]

yes jobday....will learn from this post of yours coz I also need advise regarding my daughter ...just that we're both still here in the Philippines and planning to apply this coming June....hopefully the changes in salary of the sponsor will not push through....good luck for both of us...

[rusty]

If she is under 18, you will need to apply for a settlement visa for her; it is the same process you used when you applied for your spouse visa. The application form for settlement is the same for spouse, fiancé or children.

You will need to include in your application details of the father and who has been looking after your daughter while you have been away. When we applied for my step son, my wife was sponsor and wrote a supporting letter detailing their circumstances of the father and that her mother was looking after him while she was in the UK. We also include a letter from her mother confirming that she had been looking after him.

If you apply now for the settlement visa, you will then, at a later date, apply for ILR for her, if you were to wait to apply after you have been granted your ILR then you can apply for your daughter to have Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE). This will save you having to apply for the extra visa. :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Terpe]

How old is your daughter?
How long has it been since you visited her?

One of the issues you MAY need to resolve is that of ‘sole responsibility’.

I'm afraid I have quite a lot of reading for you, but it is important so that you can better understand what needs to be done.

Please look here:-
Especially SET7.8 "What is sole responsibility"
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/guidance/ecg/set/set7


Also look here:-
Annex M - Children - Guidance - General
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/IDIs/idischapter8/section5a/annex-m?view=Binary

And here:-
Immigration Rules - Children
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/immigrationlaw/immigrationrules/part8/children/

The 'sole responsibility' rule can cause applications to be very complex, as the meaning of the term cannot be precise. Every family’s situation is unique.

I personally, have not seen any written information from the UKBA on specifically how to prove sole responsibility status.

But you will need to think about how to satisfy the UKBA that the sponsoring parent has, usually for a substantial period of time, been the main person
exercising parental responsibility for the child. This means that the sponsoring parent has had and still has the ultimate responsibility for the major
decisions relating to the child’s upbringing and provides the child with the majority of the financial and emotional support it requires.
The sponsoring parent must show that he or she has had, and continues to have, care and control of the child.

There have been many cases where the parents are separated and the sponsoring parent has left their child in the care of other relatives and gone to the UK
without the child.

UKBA will normally expect that where the child is being looked after by relatives, they should be the relatives of the sponsor.In such a case the, sponsoring parent must
still show that she or he has retained the ultimate responsibility for the child’s upbringing and provides the majority of the emotional and financial support needed.

I hope I have not made any incorrect assumptions about your own circumstances.

We do have a number of members who have actually been in your position hopefully they will be able to share their experience with you.

Happy reading and hope it helps

[bruce]

Good-luck I wish you the very best ..we tried and failed but have now got a third party involved with appeals ..they are very confident of getting the decision over-turned, but of course having to wait is the killer after already waiting for so long ..fingers crossed

Where a child is concerned my only advice can be to obtain legal advice/help