Child Benefit -- Extending the Visa

[palaremzi]

- I am Turkish and been here for about 2 years on a tier 2 visa. Turkish nationals can claim child benefit even if it says "no recourse to public funds" on the visa, so, i claimed and started receiving the benefits soon after I arrived.
- Then, I realized that many of the Turkish nationals I know avoid the CB. When I asked why, they said it's an exception and it's better to be safe. These days the visa officers, they said, are looking for the slightest excuse to deny you after all.
So, in November 2011, slightly more than a year later, I called HMRC and asked them to stop the payments, which they did.
- In a few months I will apply to extend the Tier 2 visa. The relevant question asks "Is the applicant receiving any public funds". Since I haven't received it for a while the answer is no. They are not asking whether I have received it in the past.
- What should I do? Just say No to the question and move on or should I include a letter explaining the situation and say that "Look, I received it for a year and it was legal. Then I freaked out and stopped receiving it".

Any suggestions welcome!

[palaremzi]

Another bloody exception we have is the police registration. Turkish nationals normally are required to register with the police but the Chicago embassy, where we got our visas from, did not put that requirement on our visa vignettes. After arriving the UK I went to the police station, but the officer could not register us. I asked her to give me some sort of form to indicate that I came and wanted to register, but she said there was not any such form. The lack of the requirement is sufficient, she said, so I went away. Fast forward two years, and now the Tier 2 extension asks for the police registration documents.

Both cases, the Child benefit (see the post above) and the Police registration Issue, are exceptions and need to be properly explained face to face. An ignorant officer can very well deny our case. This is what I am afraid of.

[vinny]

See also Exceptions because of a person’s nationality.

Overseas Visitors Registration Office (OVRO),
Brandon House,
180 Borough High Street,
London SE1 1LH.
Tel. 020 7230 1208.

Elsewhere the person will register at the nearest police station specified as a registration office

.