Tier 1 extension - baby due one month before visa expiry

[anniedk]

Hi, I was wondering if someone would be able to help me with a query regarding my tier 1 visa.

My visa expires in mid February 2014, however I just found out that I am pregnant and the baby will be due in mid January 2014. Of course it would be too early to fly with a four week old baby, plus I will need time to get a birth certificate, a citizenship certificate from my home country and then a new child passport. This whole process would take longer than one month.

I was wondering if the Home Office would grant us a six week extension (or thereabouts) to get our documents in order and for me to get over the childbirth and get a bit of rest before we move back to our home country because as you can imagine, that is a bit of a process after living in the UK for five years. We also have a daughter who will be 14 months at the time we leave so moving will be hectic as it is.

Has anyone been in this situation before or have any advice about approaching the Home Office to ask for an extension? I am worried that if I enquire now that they will make us leave the country in the next few months (while I am still able to fly) as we really don't have enough money now to leave. I am able to work up until December and my husband can work up until we leave so we really need to the extra income.

Our other option would be to just have the baby here, then contact Home Office and let them know that the process of getting documents will take longer than we thought. Not ideal as I don't want to be caught as an "overstayer" plus it would be fantastic if my husband could keep working up until we leave and of course he couldn't work past February without permission for an extension.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[thebionicredneck2003]

Hi,

Couple of questions before I can give a detailed response:

1. Why don't you just go for an early extension by applying now?

2. What visa is your husband on?

[anniedk]

My husband is on a dependents visa off my tier 1 visa.

We don't actually want to stay any longer than approx six weeks as the cost to extend the visa is about £5,600 for the four of us for another three years. Do you know if it possible to apply for a short extension?

I have tried calling the Home Office to ask them but I can never get through. And I cannot find an email address to send them an email to ask. Nor can I find anything written on their website about it, of course.

[thebionicredneck2003]

Hi,

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a short extension and I doubt that the Home Office would be sympathetic to your case, as it is a one rule applies to everyone sort of thing.

Just a suggestion, if you are willing to leave, why can't you leave the country say in November, when you are still able to fly and your husband can follow you afterwards?

It is not an ideal situation, but at least you will not be at risk of overstaying and you would have a couple of months to make some more money, as you noted in your earlier post that it was important to do so.

Due to your exceptional circumstances, maybe there is another way that I am not privy to.

Hopefully, someone else on the forum can advise further.

[bubin123]

You can stay 28 days after your visa expiry without any trouble.

[thebionicredneck2003]

In theory, yes, she can stay up to 28 days after her visa expiry date, but I did not mention it earlier and would not recommend this course of action if you can avoid it.

In the op's case, it is possible to avoid having to overstay by even one minute, so why risk having it on your record

[UKBALoveStory]

Hi, I was wondering if someone would be able to help me with a query regarding my tier 1 visa.

My visa expires in mid February 2014, however I just found out that I am pregnant and the baby will be due in mid January 2014. Of course it would be too early to fly with a four week old baby, plus I will need time to get a birth certificate, a citizenship certificate from my home country and then a new child passport. This whole process would take longer than one month.

I was wondering if the Home Office would grant us a six week extension (or thereabouts) to get our documents in order and for me to get over the childbirth and get a bit of rest before we move back to our home country because as you can imagine, that is a bit of a process after living in the UK for five years. We also have a daughter who will be 14 months at the time we leave so moving will be hectic as it is.

Has anyone been in this situation before or have any advice about approaching the Home Office to ask for an extension? I am worried that if I enquire now that they will make us leave the country in the next few months (while I am still able to fly) as we really don't have enough money now to leave. I am able to work up until December and my husband can work up until we leave so we really need to the extra income.

Our other option would be to just have the baby here, then contact Home Office and let them know that the process of getting documents will take longer than we thought. Not ideal as I don't want to be caught as an "overstayer" plus it would be fantastic if my husband could keep working up until we leave and of course he couldn't work past February without permission for an extension.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

In theory when is your ILR due?