Immigrationboards.com

Dear forum users,
I am currently on a PBS dependent visa which expires in Nov 2018. My full visa history is listed below:

Visa Type, Valid From-Until
1. Working holiday (Entry clearance sticker, issued outside UK)
Sep 2008 - Sep 2010
2. Tier 4 general student (Entry clearance sticker, issued outside UK)
Aug 2010 - Jan 2012
3. Tier 4 general student (LTR, BRP)
Feb 2012 - July 2015
4. Tier 4 general student (LTR, BRP)
Jun 2015 - Jan 2016
5. PBS dependant (LTR, BRP)
Nov 2015 - Nov 2018

My first entry in the UK was in Jan 2009. I went back to my country in Aug 2010 to switch to a student visa. All subsequent visa renewal/application was in the UK.

We (my girlfriend, now wife, and I) have been living together since Jan 2009 (since we both first came to the UK). We got married in May 2013. She was on a Tier 2 general visa at the time and I was on a Tier 4 student visa. She got her indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in Jul 2015, and British citizenship/passport in Nov 2016.

In Nov 2015, our daughter was born. In Jul 2018, our son was born. Both are British citizen by birth.

As mentioned, my current PBS dependent visa expires in Nov 2018. I am unsure if I need to extend my PBS visa, or whether I can apply for settlement directly. I checked at the following gov.uk web page:
https://www.gov.uk/settle-in-the-uk

Whether I select:
You're the family member or partner of a British citizen
Or:
You're the family member or partner of someone who has settled in the UK

I get the following:
If you got your current visa as your partner’s dependant after they settled in the UK, you must apply as the partner of a settled person instead.

And the eligibility criteria then is:
You need to have been living in the UK with a ‘partner of a settled person’ visa for:

2 years if you applied for your visa before 9 July 2012
5 years or 10 years if you applied for your visa on or after 9 July 2012

So... I am not sure if I am missing some rules here, but it seems I cannot avoid extending my PBS. After doing so, then I have 2 options:
1) apply for ILR after 2 years after satisfying the 5 years criteria.
2) apply for ILR under 10 year long residency in Jan 2019 (when I think I am eligible, but not sure).

I would really appreciate if someone can sense-check my situation and advise if I am missing anything.

Many thanks for your help.
P

You couldn't have applied for a PBS Dependent visa in November 2015 if your spouse already had ILR at that time. You would only have been able to apply for a spouse settlement visa on form FLR(M).

If you do in fact hold a PBS Dependent visa, you cannot apply for ILR based on being a spouse of a British citizen as you do not hold the correct visa category.

There is no '2 year route' any more. It changed to 5 years in July 2012.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 04, 2018 8:09 pm

You couldn't have applied for a PBS Dependent visa in November 2015 if your spouse already had ILR at that time.

Possible for leave to remain application, under 319C(b)(iii) and 319C(h), etc.

Unfortunately, I believe that 319E(d) prevents you from applying for SET(O) until Nov 2020. So, you require another 3 years extension.

However, you may be able to apply for SET(LR) under Long residence, no sooner than 28 days before the 10th anniversary of your initial entry in the UK.

See also options.

Thanks for reading and responding to my post.

@CR001, I do currently hold a PBS dependent leave to remain visa. I guess if I had applied in an incorrect visa category, the application would have been declined.

@vinny, 28 days before the 10th anniversary of my initial entry in the UK is Dec 8th. My visa expires Nov 20th. I am falling 18 days short to apply for ILR directly under long residence So I cannot avoid to extend my current LTR. Regarding this, can you advise if:

- it is a 2 or 3 years extension you get on renewing a PBS dependent visa?
- there is any possibility of being waived the IHS charge, or at least have a reduced charge, or refund, given that I would be eligible to apply for ILR - probably while my extension application will still be in progress?

Lastly, just to be sure about the 10 year route:
- does the combination of the visa types I have had since 2009 (Working holiday, Tier 4, then PBS dependent) acceptable as 10 years continuous residence? Note also I obtained my first 2 entry clearance outside the UK. Does Jan 2009 still count as my initial entry?

If you left the UK before your leave expired and came back within six months with a new Entry clearance, then you should also be okay under Long residence.

Do click on my previous links for more details and options.

Dear forum users,

My first entry in the UK was on Jan 5th, 2009.

My full visa history is as follows:

Visa Type, Valid From-Until
1. Working holiday (Leave to enter issued outside UK, Entry clearance sticker)
Sep 2008 - Sep 2010
2. Tier 4 general student (Leave to enter issued outside UK, Entry clearance sticker)
Aug 2010 - Jan 2012
3. Tier 4 general student (Leave to remain, BRP)
Feb 2012 - July 2015
4. Tier 4 general student (Leave to remain, BRP)
Jun 2015 - Jan 2016
5. PBS dependant (LTR, BRP)
Nov 2015 - Nov 2018
6. PBS dependant - applied for extension on Nov 11th, 2018

I meet all the eligibility criterias from here:
https://www.gov.uk/long-residence/eligibility
(except for Life in the UK Test which I am taking this week)

Counting 28 days backward (from the 10th anniversary since first entry on Jan 5th, 2009) is Dec 8th, 2018.

Since I may not hear from my current application by then, is it OK I proceed with my ILR application while I have an application/decision in progress?

The main motivation is that I may be refunded the application fee and/or the IHS payment if they have to consider the last (ILR) application only.

Finally, please advise if the following online application link is the correct one to use.
https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/set-lr

Many thanks.

Dear forum users,
Any guidance on this? Is it OK if I apply for ILR after Dec 8th even if I will not have received a decision on my current PBS dependant extension application?
Thanks.