Skilled Worker Dependent- Path to settlement(ILR)

[Ravi199210]

Hi all,

hope you are doing good.
I need some guidance around my ILR application-
scenario---
I came to UK (as a dependent )on my husband's ICT visa in Feb-2019, in April -2021 my husband switched to skilled worker, but I continued on ICT dependent for around 5 more months.
Now my husband is eligible to apply for the ILR in April -2026, as he will be completing 5 years on skilled worker visa.

But, by April 2026, I would have spent around 4.5 years on as skilled worker dependent visa.

But my overall stay in UK on dependent visa is more than 7 years now- 2. 5 years on ICT/PBS dependent + 4.5 years on skilled worker dependent and there is no gap at all throughout my stay in UK.

My question is - can I apply for ILR at the same time as my husband which is April-26, by counting/adding the time I have spent as ICT dependent?

We are completely confused as I have got a mix of opinions on this till now, also, few people mentioned as ICT visa does lead to settlement, so the time spent on ICT even for dependent does not get counted for ILR and the clock resets even for dependents only when we move from ICT to skilled worker, it does not get reset when we switch - for example -from tier-2 general visa to skilled worker visa

can someone please help us with this?

Thanks a lot

[lolo2]

My question is - can I apply for ILR at the same time as my husband which is April-26, by counting/adding the time I have spent as ICT dependent?

Yes you can.

Under the Skilled Worker route any time spent as a dependant - irrespective of the dependant visa type you've had before - can be counted for ILR.

[zimba]

There was never a separate dependant visa route for dependants under each part of the PBS system at all. This is a common misunderstanding. Under the old PBS system, there was just one PBS dependant route, so all dependants under the PBS system were issued visa under the same exact route. Under the current skilled worker rules for ILR, time spent under ANY dependant partner route counts towards ILR.

[Ravi199210]

Thanks a lot for your reply, and very sorry, I never thought this query would be such confusing for me, the reason is-
Recently I connected with few lawyers and most of them suggested that, the clock gets resets for both main applicant and dependent.

Also, one of the lawyers, came back saying- it used to go through fine earlier but recently he got to know from some of his lawyers forum that recently few such applications got rejected.

I am very sorry for asking too many questions- but just wanted to understand - if you know or if it is possible for you to find-if any of the recent application rejected with this reason, or even was successful in last few days.

I know I am asking for too much, but I am really confused, as I am not in a position to take any risk due to various reasons.

Many Thanks
Ravi

[zimba]

The advice given to you is largely common knowledge. There has been no report of refusal on this matter as the claims made by such lawyers has no basis in the immigration rules. There are many topics on the forum where applicants got terrible and incorrect advice from lawyers/advisors, etc. These advisors often do not know what they are talking about

Here is the relevant rule for dependants:

SW 42.1. The applicant must have spent a continuous period of 5 years in the UK with permission as a dependent partner of the person (P) in SW 39.1.

As I said, there has never been a separate PBS dependant route for Tier 1, Tier 2, etc. They were all called the PBS dependant route and they were the same visa route. Then when Tier 2 became the skilled worker rules, the ILR rules simply asked for 5 years as a dependant partner of 'P'. Otherwise, people who spent time under the old PBS dependant visa could not even get ILR. You can even count the time under the family route (which is a totally separate route) as per the official guide. This is because the paragraph under the rules that I showed above, does not care about the actual route of a dependant partner visa.

Here is what the official guide says about the 5 years:

5-year permission requirement: partners
Those who are required to complete a qualifying period must have spent a continuous period of 5 years in the UK with permission as a dependent partner of the lead applicant. Dependant partner can include time as a spouse on family routes.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... routes.pdf

So ask any lawyer or advisor to explain why the official guide even allows the time spent under family route to count.

FYI This advice applies to all work related visa routes in the UK --> viewtopic.php?t=358914#p2205127

[Ravi199210]

Thank you very much for your reply and a very detailed explanation, and apologies again, for sounding confused- I refereed to the documents you shared and tried understanding it -

This is what written in the doc you shared-
5 - year permission requirement: partners
Those who are required to complete a qualifying period must have spent a
continuous period of 5 years in the UK with permission as a dependant partner of the
lead applicant.
Dependant partner can include time as a spouse on family routes.
Related rules
GT 30.1, INNF 37.1, MOR 33.1, ISP 35.1, SCU 35.1, SW 42.1.

link to this - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... routes.pdf

Now I tried searching what is the meaning of family route visa in UK and found this online

my search was- does ICT visa dependent visa which is PBS dependent partner comes under family routes in UK and below is the result I got--

"Not
ICT visa dependent visa which is PBS dependent partner comes under family routes in UK
The ICT Dependent Visa is not classified under the family routes in the UK. It is specifically linked to the Tier 2 ICT visa, which allows family members of ICT visa holders to live and work in the UK. This visa is not part of the PBS dependent visa category."

Can you please help and clarify- I know I am asking for too much now, but its all related to my current circumstances and also the kind of things I am hearing from different places, hope you would understand.

Many Thanks
Ravi

[zimba]

Tier 2 ICT dependents were NOT under family route at all, they were all granted leave under the point-based system (PBS) rules. The Point-Based system largely does not exist anymore and there is no Tier 2 route at all. Family route means people who got visas under Appendix FM of the Immigration rules (people whose spouse was either British or settled in the UK). Two completely separate immigration rules and routes.

If you have no detailed knowledge of the immigration rules, please refrain from interpreting them. You have clearly been misled by terrible advisors and stupid lawyers, as usual. We have many many posts on how terrible advice from them generally is. We literally had a recent success case reported too.

Same advice and ILR success --> viewtopic.php?t=354739#p2202890

[Ravi199210]

Thanks a lot for all you support, I am now going to apply ILR for myself and for my wife at the same time based on your guidance.

If possible can you please keep this thread alive, as I will be posting once I get a decision, so that someone like me won't struggle in future

Thanks a lot again

[ankitgangwani]

Hello Ravi,

I hope you are doing well,..

I am in a similar situation like yours:

my wife spends 1 year on ICT dependent + 4.3 years on Skilled worker dependent visa now.

I have recently applied for ILR for myself and got the decision.

What have you decided to do in your case? Are you going to apply ILR for your dependent as well?

Many thanks,
Ankit

[Ravi199210]

Hi @Zimba and all,

hope you are doing good, can you please support me with this?
One of my friend in almost similar situation but he was eligible to apply for the dependent visa 1 month before me and he applied for it by considering the time spent on ICT, now he got the below response from home office (this is their exact words)-

"As per our records, you were issued a TIER
2 Skilled Worker Dependant Joiner LTR on
30 May 2024. Your prior permission was as
a TIER 2 ICT LONG TERM STAFF CHILD,
which was issued on 13 August 2019.
The TIER 2 ICT LONG TERM STAFF visa
(including their linked dependants) is not an
eligible Settlement route for this application.
Therefore, you currently do not qualify for
Settlement in the UK until 30 May 2029, as
you have not met the 5-year continuous
residency requirement under a valid
Settlement route.
If we were to continue with this application,
it would likely not produce a favourable outcome"

Can you please guide further, what and how we have to deal with this and reply to home office?
He got only 10 days to reply this

Would really appreciate your help.

Many Thanks
Ravi

[secret.simon]

Your prior permission was as
a TIER 2 ICT LONG TERM STAFF CHILD

Is the person a child dependent or a spouse/long-term partner dependent?

If they are a child dependent, what are the visa statuses of both parents?

[Ravi199210]

Hello, thanks for your reply, the person is a spouse dependent, and the situation is exactly the same as of mine (as I posted above), he calculated the time spent as ICT dependent towards settlement - as per 5 years continuous stay.
Main applicant already eligible to apply for settlement and already applied for it, spouse moved from ICT dependent to skilled worker dependent few years back..

[zimba]

Hello, thanks for your reply, the person is a spouse dependent, and the situation is exactly the same as of mine (as I posted above), he calculated the time spent as ICT dependent towards settlement - as per 5 years continuous stay.
Main applicant already eligible to apply for settlement and already applied for it, spouse moved from ICT dependent to skilled worker dependent few years back..

The UKVI claims the ICT dependant visa was a CHILD visa, it makes no sense to me. Also, there is nothing under the immigration rules that supports the claims they are making (the rules do not say they should have spent time under specific routes at all). It seems they started spewing nonsensical stuff recently.

See this --> viewtopic.php?t=359098#p2206006

[Ravi199210]

Thanks a lot for your reply- is there anything we can do from our side to defend our case now? it looks like the confusion created through their documents is what they are using for the decision, which is not good and reliable at all, but I am not sure whats the way forward for this, if you can help and advise here please?

[zimba]

It has to be challenged in the response, saying what I showed you. The immigration rules do not support their claims

[Ravi199210]

Hi @Zimba,

thanks a lot for your reply, I can see a clear confusion created here after 2024 update.
Do you have the link to the previous document, if you can provide me please? it would be helpful to challenge this using that document.
As the rule was changed after when we entered this path, so it should not impact people already promised otherwise.

Many Thanks
Ravi

[zimba]

No. The document was updated in line with Appendix Continuous Residence in 2024. The problem is that what that document says is NOT supported by the rules cited in that guide. It also contradicts their own other guide

[muraliwork06]

Hi @Zimba and all,

hope you are doing good, can you please support me with this?
One of my friend in almost similar situation but he was eligible to apply for the dependent visa 1 month before me and he applied for it by considering the time spent on ICT, now he got the below response from home office (this is their exact words)-

"As per our records, you were issued a TIER
2 Skilled Worker Dependant Joiner LTR on
30 May 2024. Your prior permission was as
a TIER 2 ICT LONG TERM STAFF CHILD,
which was issued on 13 August 2019.
The TIER 2 ICT LONG TERM STAFF visa
(including their linked dependants) is not an
eligible Settlement route for this application.
Therefore, you currently do not qualify for
Settlement in the UK until 30 May 2029, as
you have not met the 5-year continuous
residency requirement under a valid
Settlement route.
If we were to continue with this application,
it would likely not produce a favourable outcome"

Can you please guide further, what and how we have to deal with this and reply to home office?
He got only 10 days to reply this

Would really appreciate your help.

Many Thanks
Ravi

Thanks for sharing this here. Is there any update with your friends application, I am in same situation. could you please share the outcome or any update that could help.

I checked the immigration website, as discussed here, there is no rules about specific route that dependent need to spend 5 yrs. But it is very confusing. Thanks

Thanks