Advice needed on applying for Leave to Enter or Leave to remain

[TobyIsabelle]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking at moving to the UK but am confused on what kind of visa to apply for my son.

My background is: i hold a British passport but have never lived in the UK apart from holidays. I am looking to move to the UK with my son, aged 4. He was born in Singapore and holds Singapore citizenship. His father, my ex husband, is not British either. I was born in Singapore to a British born father so I am a British citizen by descent. As such, my son is not entitled to British citizenship automatically. However, he will be able to register as a British citizen after we both reside together in the UK for 3 years.

I'm self-employed in Singapore. I do not intend to look for a job in the UK as my current business is home-based and Internet-based so I will be able to continue it from the UK. I will register a company there.

I'm not sure if the best way to apply for my son to stay in UK would be a Leave to Enter from Singapore or for my son to go over to UK as a tourist and apply for a Lease to Remain visa. Singapore citizens don't need a visa to travel to the UK and should be able to stay as a tourist for 6 months. Leave to remain visa applications from inside the UK are much cheaper than applying for Leave to Enter from outside. However, I was told by someone that it is not possible to apply for a LTR from UK if on a tourist visa, however I couldn't find such information on the UK government Website.

If I apply before going to UK, Will the UK government be able to accept any financial requirements based on my past years income tax declaration in Singapore? And if I apply for Leave to remain from UK after I settled in the UK, I would only have a few months income to show.. How will that work?

Also, how much would the income requirement be for a single parent sponsoring a child and no spouse? All the information I can find is based on UK citizens sponsoring spouse as well as child/children. Would it be the same even though I'm not sponsoring a spouse?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[CR001]

He should apply for ILE (form VAF4A and Appendix 1) before traveling to the UK. You will also need to show evidence of sole responsibility.