ILR application with child dependant

[kancan]

Hi guys, the scenario of my case is as following:

I am currently on Tier 1 General and will be applying ILR around late November this year. My 2 years old baby who was born outside UK is currently the dependant of my wife, who is on her own Tier 1 General visa and both of their Leave To Remain will be valid until 07/2012.

As far as I know, they will have to be MY dependants if they want to join me at the time I apply for my ILR later this year and my wife will obviously not meet this criterion. My plan is only to bring my son with me as my joint applicant for ILR therefore he will need to switch to depend on my Tier 1 General, and what I want to ask is:

1. Given his current T1G dependent visa won't be expiring until 07/2012, can I apply for an out country switch to make him depend on me this July i.e. almost one year before his current visa expires? Will this raise any suspicions to the caseworker? My T1G will be valid until 05/2013.

2. If the answer to question 1 is 'yes', will the caseworker think the baby will have been my dependant too short by the time we apply for ILR later in this year, i.e. 11/2011, which will be merely 4 or 5 months after his switching to be my dependant?

I am looking forward to kindly help from all of you guys!

Many thanks!

Kan

[geriatrix]

1. I believe you can apply for leave to remain for your child as "your dependant" from within the UK (7.32 and 319H(h)). And you can do this anytime you wish.
2. There is no residential requirement for dependant minors.

Your spouse, however, will need to apply for entry clearance from outside the UK if she wishes to change her status to that of your dependant.

[kancan]

1. I believe you can apply for leave to remain for your child as "your dependant" from within the UK (7.32). And you can do this anytime you wish.
2. There is no residential requirement for dependant minors.

Your spouse, however, will need to apply for entry clearance from outside the UK if she wishes to change her status to that of your dependant.

Thanks for your reply sushdmehta. It looks I should have included my child as my dependant when I extended my T1G earlier this year! If I can submit an in country switch for my kid to be "my dependant" at any time as you cited, can he not apply ILR with me as a Tier 1 General dependant, however, "depending on my wife"?

[geriatrix]

If I can submit an in country switch for my kid to be "my dependant" at any time as you cited, can he not apply ILR with me as a Tier 1 General dependant, however, "depending on my wife"?

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem possible.

(c) The applicant must have, or have last been granted, leave as the child of the Points Based System Migrant who is being granted indefinite leave to remain.