Dependents of British Citizen

[arar]

Hi
This forum has been helpful for my ILR/Citizenship process and wish you convey my sincere thanks in that regard. I received my ILR through the Tier2 General channel and is a British citizen since 2018. My wife and daughter was living with me as a Tier 2 dependent and is now is India, as my wife works in India and came in on a sebatic leave for 2years. My wife got her Tier 2 dependent before 9th July 2012, so would be eligible for ILR with 2years(if my understanding is correct) in UK, which she have. As she was on leave for 2years, she went back after the 2years and ever since in India. Now I am planning to bring them back to the UK. These are my queries;

1. Is citizen/ILR dependent the only category to apply visa for them?

2. My daughter was born in India(before I got my ILR) and is five, Is there a possibility to apply for her Citizenship/ILR directly, from India?


Thanks in advance.

[CR001]

My wife got her Tier 2 dependent before 9th July 2012, so would be eligible for ILR with 2years(if my understanding is correct) in UK, which she have. As she was on leave for 2years, she went back after the 2years and ever since in India.

This is irrelevant as her previous visa has likely already expired a long time ago, so this 2 year route is no longer applicable.

1. Is citizen/ILR dependent the only category to apply visa for them?

Yes.

2. My daughter was born in India(before I got my ILR) and is five, Is there a possibility to apply for her Citizenship/ILR directly, from India?

No, she will follow the same route as your spouse, with a visa and 5 years residence and then ILR.

[secret.simon]

My wife got her Tier 2 dependent before 9th July 2012, so would be eligible for ILR with 2years(if my understanding is correct) in UK, which she have.

The requirements for ILR for a Tier 2 dependent under the rules before 9th July 2012 are

(d) The applicant and the Relevant Points Based System Migrant or Appendix W Worker must have been living together in the UK in a marriage or civil partnership, or in a relationship similar to marriage or civil partnership, for at least the applicable specified period in either (i) or (ii), subject to (iii):
(i) If the applicant was granted leave as:
(a) the Partner of that Relevant Points Based System Migrant, or
(b) the spouse or civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner of that person at a time when that person had leave under another category of these Rules under the Rules in place before 9 July 2012, and since then has had continuous leave as the Partner of that Relevant Points based System Migrant or Appendix W Worker, the specified period is 2 years

The use of the present perfect continuous tense suggests that the applicant for ILR (in this case, your wife) is expected to be resident in the UK under the Tier 2 dependent category at the time of application. If your wife had stayed in the UK and kept renewing the Tier 2 dependent visa, she would have been eligible for ILR with you.

1. Is citizen/ILR dependent the only category to apply visa for them?

Yes.

Now that you have acquired British citizenship, your wife will need to restart the UK immigration journey from scratch, as the spouse of a settled citizen and acquire ILR in five years time from the grant of the new visa.

2. My daughter was born in India(before I got my ILR) and is five, Is there a possibility to apply for her Citizenship/ILR directly, from India?

Children born abroad follow the immigration pathway of the less-privileged parent and are expected to hold ILR themselves along with one parent having British citizenship and the other parent having ILR (or British citizenship) before registering as British citizens. Your child will be eligible to acquire ILR along with your wife and can be registered as a British citizen immediately after the child and mother acquire ILR.