Leaving a dependant child behind...

[Eldorado]

My last post on this forum was some time ago, since then my wife has been very ill but has now made a full recovery.

I am a British citizen, my wife is from Argentina, her son (from her 1st marriage is also Argentine). We have been married for nearly 6 years, although we have not spent more than 4 years uninteruppted together outside of the country (I spent a year in uk from 2008-2009 for economic reasons). My wife's son is disabled (spina bifida - confined to a wheelchair). His father has nothing to do with him, and we have papers from the courts saying that we are able to take him out of the country permanently. We all currently live in Argentina. We want to come to live in the UK.

I do not have any job lined up in the UK and due to this, and our minimal savings (5k) we have decided on the following plan:

I go to the UK first, stay with my parents and find work. Once done, and I have been working for 3 months, my wife will make an application in Argentina for her to come to the UK on a spouse visa. My parents rent a council house, receive no benefits, and we will use that address on the application form as the accommodation. My wife's son will stay with my wife's parents until we both have jobs and a firm base. We think this will take 6-9 months.

Once we have some more money in the bank, jobs and a place to live, my wife will return to Argentina and make the application for her son to join us.

In an ideal world we would make the application for my wife and her son to join us at the same time, but we do not have the money nor, more importantly, the accommodation to support the application and we have been told it will most likely be rejected.

My main doubts are:

1, How long do I have to be back working in the UK to make an application for my wife (I am thinking 3 months)? Is a temp job sufficient?

2, When my wife makes her spouse application, she will obviously tell the truth and put down that she has one child. Will she be asked to elaborate on why the child is not coming with us at first, perhaps at an interview? Should she voulunteer this information in her spouse application?

3, In regards to my wife's accommodation, a letter from my parents stating that it is OK for her to stay at their house will be enough?

4, If all goes well and we finally make the application for her son, will we penalised for not making the applications for her and her son at the same time?

All help is welcome, you have no idea how difficult this process will be for us, but we believe it represents our best chance.

[blessed78]

Hi,
I wonder how much sense it makes for your wife to come to the UK and find a job, only to leave soon after and return home for several months to apply for her son's visa? It may take her a while to find work. And would you tell an employer that she plans on leaving in a few months anyway? Plus the extra cost of her flights... does it add up? Can she work in Argentina instead?

Would it not be better for you to just work for three months to get your bank statements showing income, then apply? You already have some savings - you won't spend them all on getting to UK and visa, will you?

By the way, I've been through a similar thing (without the son). My husband returned to UK first as we had no savings. It took him four months to find a job. I was working in Australia, meanwhile, so I got together about £5k savings, same as you. When we applied, we only had this amount, and his job contract (he's a teacher, doesn't start job until september) and our flat lease. We're still waiting, but I think that will be enough. I also sent pages of ads for jobs I could do in UK, and I've worked there before, no worries.

Anyway, best of luck.

[ashvid]

Hi Eldorado..
Here is my experience.. My husband is a british citizen. I am Indian..
I came in on a spouse visa in 2008 leaving my daughter(from my first marriage) behind..
I did mention in my spouse visa application that I was the sole provider for my daughter and she is solely dependant on me and that I would apply for her visa once she completed her schooling(boarding school).
I started working in the UK in October 2009
I got my ILR in May 2010 and in June 2010 I applied for my daughter's settlement visa. She was granted ILE today!!!
I submitted 3 months payslips & bank statements,rent documents,utility bills and my divorce decree for my previous marriage which specified that I hold sole custody of my daughter.
Hope this helps... and wishing you luck..