Dependents not applying with you, children live abroad

[AdyM]

Hi all,

Apologies if I have missed any similar posts about this - I've just moved over from the ILR thread to the citizenship thread today after receiving my wife's ILR BRP.

I have completed the application for my wife's naturalisation as a British citizen and will submit it once our second referee has signed their form.

I noticed in the document checklist that it states 'You must provide your documents after you submit your application, these can be originals or copies. Any passports provided must be originals'.

Does this mean I cannot upload copies of our passports to UKVCAS as part of the supporting documentation (which is what I did for the ILR SET M application) and that we must instead take the originals to the UKVCAS appointment for them to check (and then presumably scan and upload)?

Thanks in advance.

[CR001]

It is exactly the same process for documents as you did for ilr. No originals are sent to UKVI. Original applicant passport and ilr brp required for biometric appointment.

[AdyM]

It is exactly the same process for documents as you did for ilr. No originals are sent to UKVI. Original applicant passport and ilr brp required for biometric appointment.

Excellent - many thanks for confirming!

[AdyM]

Hello,

I'm just proofreading the draft application for my wife's naturalisation and wondered if someone could please clarify the question about 'Do you have any dependants not applying with you at this time?'

My wife has 2 sons (aged 16 and 18) who live in my wife's home country.

They are her dependants in the sense that they are her children and she sends money back to them.

However, we have no intention to apply for any UK visa for them (apart from perhaps a visit visa at some point).

So from an immigration point of view, in the context of my wife applying for naturalisation, would the boys not be classed as dependants, in which case I should answer 'No' to the question?

Many thanks in advance

[bizman]

In reality the boys are your wife’s dependant and it’s just logical you refer to them as such especially if you have supporting legal documents to prove this. This is because of you don’t do that at this point, even getting a visit visa for them at some point will become an Herculean task. It doesn’t really matter wether you are helping them on visa in the future or not, it is just the true position of things.
However also, if the boys are adults , that is 18 years and they live independently and make their own money, there won’t be such problems in the future but you need to mention them and their relationship so that it will will not seem you are lying in the future.

[AdyM]

In reality the boys are your wife’s dependant and it’s just logical you refer to them as such especially if you have supporting legal documents to prove this. This is because of you don’t do that at this point, even getting a visit visa for them at some point will become an Herculean task. It doesn’t really matter wether you are helping them on visa in the future or not, it is just the true position of things.
However also, if the boys are adults , that is 18 years and they live independently and make their own money, there won’t be such problems in the future but you need to mention them and their relationship so that it will will not seem you are lying in the future.

Hi Bizman,
Thanks very much for getting back to me.
There is nowhere on the application form to go into detail about the boys (unlike on the application forms for Entry Clearance and FLR - if I recall correctly I had to submit the boys' birth certificates and translations for these applications but not for ILR application).
So I have replied:
- 'Yes' to 'Do you have any children whose birth parent is not your partner?'
- 'No' to 'Do any of these children live with you?'
I have then explained in a cover letter that I will upload to UKVCAS as to why we do not feel the boys should be considered as dependents in the immigration sense, as opposed to the parental sense.
All the best

[bizman]

Ok that’s great