I am new to this forum and I've heard great things about this forum so I'm expecting to get some really informative replies.
My Situation:
Basically me and my wife applied for a 5 year visa back in September 2014 and we had a successful application giving us grant till the beginning of 2019 (I previously had Tier 2 grant). My employer had specified maintenance for me, so I applied for me and my wife without specifying any maintenance funds. However, our child was born in November 2014 and now after recently receiving my child's passport, I have to apply for his Tier 2 dependent visa as well because we are planning to travel this September.
Application Information Page: https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general/family-members
Question:
So my questions are:
- 1. Do I have to certify maintenance for my child seperately now?
- 2. Can I apply without showing any maintenance for my child? If not, can I ask my employer to specify maintenance for my child? The website says: "You won’t need evidence of your savings if you have a letter from your fully approved (‘A-rated’) sponsor saying they’ll provide one month’s funding of at least £630 for each of your dependants?"
- 3. Because we previously had our visa's issued with the company providing maintenance, does that hold valid for my child's visa application as well?
- 4. There is another scenario mentioned at the bottom of the page of the UKBA website which says: "If you have children while you’re in the UK, you can apply for permission for them to stay. You must do this if you want to travel in and out of the UK with your child. When you apply you must send a full UK birth certificate showing the names of both of your child’s parents." What does this mean?
- 5. With the introduction of the new Immigration Health Surcharge, I have to pay that for my child's application as well and its coming out to be about £800 till the beginning of 2019 . So in total, I have to pay £1202(as I remember applying last time) + £800 = £2002 . In about 2.5 years, I'll be in a situation to apply for ILR. Do I have the option of applying for a 3 year visa rather than a 5 year (thats what we have)? Also is the 5 year visa fee the same as last time as they do not show the visa fees anymore until you fill the application form.
Cheers.