Family Visa starting the process

Has the son got ILR? Is your wife applying for British citizenship?
Bit confused here!

Yes the bar of evidence seems crazy high for a landlord, I wouldn't like handing over all that info. A solicitor letter has to carry some weight, will see what she comes back with. Thanks for the reassurances

What are you applying for? If BC then you are on the wrong path with documents to provide

They are applying to get son/stepson to the UK.

As both british citizens now the son will get indefinite leave to enter granted with the first visa. Not sure if that means that only get the stamp in passport or whether gets a BRP as well.

British citizenship would be the next step but as son is already 16 wont he able to register as a british citizen so will have to do the full 5 years before can apply for citizenship or get married and then only need three years or husband is going to adopt the stepson in the UK in which case granted at point of adoption (if going down the latter be careful on name changes).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ration-as-british-citizen-children-accessible

If really want proof of ownership then can just order the land registry title for the property which will show who owns the property - should match with solicitors letter. As @Mattecube said the list is more for where don't have a rental contract (in our case I owned property outright and supplied the land registry details and estate agents handout from when I bought the house to show was enough space and nothing else for that element and no issues.)

out of interest--when my wife applied for her sons visa--she used a solicitor ( i wouldnt get involved this time ). The solicitor INSISTED she got a home report done to show adequate accomodation--in spite of the fact she had supplied all the evidence we submitted for her FLR /ILR applications.

The solicitor kindly supplied the home inspection form, apparently a copy of one used by some surveyor type company. She was charged £190 for this. She was fuming !

We are applying for my wife's son to join us on a family visa
My wife has British Citizenship since January 2023 after completing the 5 year route which started with a fiancée visa.
We are expecting the son to get ILR

When I started the fiancee visa the land registry was mandatory so presuming this was the case this time but seems not so. As I said for the FLR/ILR visas we just gave a tenancy agreement.

"Not sure if that means that only get the stamp in passport or whether gets a BRP as well." I presume we will need to book BRP when we submit the documents, is there a chance this will be waived?

"already 16 wont he able to register as a british citizen so will have to do the full 5 years" why is this, I was told to was 12 months and then can apply?

my wifes son has his ILE visa--and arrives on monday--my understanding is he collects his BRP when he arrives

First let me outline what we went through.
Wife arrived on spouse visa 2015
Daughter arrived on dependant visa
Through timing my wife went through the visa stages on to ILR and when daughters original visa expired as a dependant she caught mum up to ILR stage and wife applied for BC immediately as married to a Brit daughter was now 18 so had to wait till she had lived in the UK 5 years before she could apply for BC
Dependants must reach the age of 18 and lived in the UK for 5 years before they can apply for BC
The one year (12 months) rule applies if for example your wife’s son came across with his mum went through all the visa stages then once he got ILR and is aged at the time 18 he would either have to marry a Brit or wait 12 months
The key point in your case is your wife’s son is jumping stages of the visa journey. Hence the time lapse
You will as part of the process nominate a Post Office to collect his BRP and this must be done within 10 days of his arrival
Tenancy agreement ideally stating number of bedrooms and living room and a basic authorisation from landlady saying son can live there will do

Rules on getting citizenship vary depending on whether under or over 18. Over 18 then subject to the having to live in the UK for 5 years and also one year wait after get ILR. As your stepson gets ILR on arrival the one year rule isnt relevant but still have to live in the UK for 5 years.

Under 18 then different rules apply and go down the registration rule. Burried in the details is that the 5 year rule doesnt apply for registration but instead they have an expectation of having lived in the UK for a certain period and for an older child this is set as two years. As a result needs to have arrived in the UK before gets to 16 and then apply just before 18th birthday.

Alternative option and depends on how you view your relationship with your stepson and any other children that you have is get him here and then look at adoption. Less than 100 gbp and go through the process and if granted before 18 then becomes an instant british citizen, no waiting 5 years, no 6 month wait to be processed and no 1500 gbp application fee or life in the uk or b1 english test.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ration-as-british-citizen-children-accessible


Children aged 13 or over
A child aged 13 or over should normally have completed at least 2 years’ residence in the UK before being registered.

Where a child was aged 16 or over when they arrived in the UK, you should normally refuse an application to register them as they will have had too short a period to establish personal connections with this country at a time when their future plans are unclear. However, each case must be considered on its individual merits and a child in these circumstances may be registered if there are grounds for doing so.

Examples of when it might be appropriate to register a child with less than 2 years’ residence include:

• where they have a firm offer of a job in the UK which depends on British citizenship, particularly with HM forces, the police or the Civil Service
• if the child is no more than 2 months short of 2 years’ residence at the date of consideration and either:
  • they would still be a minor at the end of the 2 month period
  • they would reach the age of 18 before the end of the 2 month period but were prevented from coming to the UK earlier due to circumstances beyond the family’s control
  • there are compelling compassionate reasons for accepting a shorter period of residence or a refusal would cause the child considerable hardship
  • the child would be the only member of the family who would not become a citizen
  • applications have been made on behalf of more than one child and at least one is under 13 - there may be a case for registering the older ones despite less than 2 years’ residence in the UK
  • the child’s residence is broken but aggregated periods exceed the 2 years

It will not necessarily be appropriate to register everyone who falls into one of the above scenarios, even where they meet the other expectations.

Thanks to all, some really good guidance there which is much appreciated. I reckon we will submit tomorrow, exciting!

Very Best of Luck to you all