Post
by kamoe » Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:39 am
I've been looking at this carefully, and from what I can gather, there seem to be good and bad news.
Bad news is:
Only your children's application will be straightforward. You and your spouse are not eligible as their relatives in a regular application, since, for that, you would need to prove financial dependency on your children, which you do not have.
You may be eligible to apply for the Settlement Scheme via a somehow more complicated route, as 'persons with a derivative right to reside' (also known as Chen carers) by virtue of being the primary carers of EEA national children under the age of 18, who reside in the UK and who would not be able to stay in the UK if you left.
Now, I am not sufficiently familiar with this route, and I understand it could be far from straightforward. There are a couple of potential difficulties:
1. This requires to prove that your children are self-sufficient (roughly, that they do not rely on benefits and thus do not represent a burden for the state), which might or might not be an issue for you, and could be proven by your current salary.
2. Both your spouse and yourself are applying. It could be viewed that only one of you is necessary for your children to stay in the UK and the status could be granted to only one of you. And if granted this status, you cannot sponsor another applicant, so one spouse could not sponsor the other. (I do hope this is not how this route operates, and that the principle of 'the best interest of a child' prevails and the Home Office choses not to split a family, but still, worth keeping in mind as one of the potential difficulties of this route).
3. Might not be an issue for the Settlement Scheme, but for the EEA route, it was required that the applicant did not hold any other leave to remain in the UK. Since you have refugee status, this might or might not be a problem. When does your refugee status expire?
Good news is:
If you do succeed in this route, chances are you will be granted Settled Status, since the 5 years could be counted not as refugees but as Chen carers, if you have met the conditions of Chen carers throughout the 5 years.
Also good news is, applying for the Settlement Scheme is free. Nothing stopping you from applying and testing the waters, and see what happens. As part of the application, you will be contacted regarding missing documents, or further questions, and if you do get refused you will be given a full rationale, that you can use for a further application.
Your children can apply online, but you will need to call and ask for a Chen paper application for you and your spouse.
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.