Getting UK visa for children born in UK

It is a myth that every child born in UK automatically becomes a citizen. With the UK Home Office rules getting stricter with every day passing by the road to citizenship is becoming narrower and narrower. Broadly speaking, according to GOV.UK a UK born will only be a citizen by birth if one of the parent is a British Citizen or has Indefinite Leave to Remain. So it doesn't matter what Tier you are on if you don't fulfill the criteria your child will not be a British citizen. Read on to find out how can your child legally live in UK as a non British citizen.

It's actually pathetic to not be able to get a citizenship even if you are born in thar country and what's worse is you need a visa for newborn for it to legally stay in UK. What some say that we aren't going to apply for the child's visa because we don't need to travel outside UK. Which makes sense because you can leave UK without a valid visa but cannot enter it so if you aren't leaving UK you won't need to apply for the visa. Well guess what Home Office has thought of that as well. The newborn gets free NHS care only up till 3 months after which if the health surcharges aren't paid for you will have to pay for your child's health care. And you can't pay the IHS without applying for a visa. See what they did there? So you need to to apply for the visa no matter what. Unless you are almost on the verge of getting your ILR and think you can take the risk, if you are on Tier 5 then of course this doesn't apply to you. The duration of your child's visa will be same as your remaining visa.

Documents required

Before you can start applying for you need certain documents made for your child 

• Birth certificate 

• Passport (read here How to get your Pakistani Passport made in UK) 

• for a Pakistani Passport you will need a NICOP (read here How to get your NICOP made in UK) 

• Proof of Maintenance for the dependent (£630  per dependent) If you are under a A rated sponsor and they have agreed to sponsor your dependents mentioned in your COS (Certificate of Sponsorship) . Then your COS should suffice, if you want to be extra safe send in your bank statement as well

• Proof of Employment : Letter which you received on joining the hospital

• Letter of Scholarship : Issued by CPSP (if applicable to you)

Remaining documents needed, you will receive during filling out the application

Filling out the Visa Application

Since your child is already in UK a entry visa isn't required so you will directly received a BRP for your little one. Go on this website and make an account https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/pbs-dependant-child
Once done you will be asked details about main visa holder (who you are dependent off?). After that you will be asked to enter details of the applicant. Including passport details, previous travel and details of responsible adult who is going to accompany for the biometrics. Then you will asked which documents will you be submitting for the proof of maintenance. Select "Letter from a bank, building society or other recognized financial institutions" and add Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (for COS), your bank name if you are submitting your statement, College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (if you are also submitting the scholarship letter by CPSP). Do send in the COS even if you it says no maintenance for the dependents.

Once that's over with you need to pay the IHS. As before calculate the amount that you have to pay by going here https://www.immigration-health-surcharge.service.gov.uk/checker/Type
pay the amount it asks. Which then takes you to selecting which service you want for the visa?

• Standard: no extra fees (8 weeks)

• Priority: visa fees + £477 (10 days)

• Super Premium: visa fees + £10, 500 (1 day) 

Choose the service you want to utilize and then pay for it. Once it goes through you will be sent a document checklist and a letter for biometrics.

Biometrics

If the child is under 6 years he/she doesn't need fingerprints or signature. For biometrics you need to go to a post office that participates in Biometric Enrollment for Home Office. Head over to this site https://www.postoffice.co.uk/foreign-nationals-enrolment-biometric-residence-permit and check your nearest branch. Visit the branch, show them the biometrics letter, pay £19.20 and get the your child's photograph taken. If there is a long queue and your child just isn't in the mood for getting their photo taken you will probably have to come back later. You will be given a receipt, keep that safe.

Document Submission and the Wait Game

Once you have all the documents and biometrics done complete the checklist, mention the serial number found on the post office receipt on the checklist as well. Usually it is directly sent online to the Home Office by the Post Office but just in case they have trouble finding it or say that you haven't done they can cross check it. If you have forgotten to mention any additional documents in the application you can still send them with the rest of the documents. Just mention it on the checklist. Send the documents on the address mentioned on the checklist, using a tracking mail service so that you know your documents have been safely delivered and received by Home Office. 

Then all you do is wait, there will be no form of communication by the Home Office, no confirmation or anything, unless they want some more documentation or some kind of verification. If you have selected Standard service then you will have to wait 8 weeks. No response will be given if the application is within the time period specified by Home Office. The only indication that you may get is when you receive a partial or full refund of your IHS.

 

• Partial if you overpaid for e.g. I paid full £400 even though only 18.5 months were remaining on my visa so I got a refund of £100 as it became less than 18 months by the time the application got approved. 

• Full Refund mostly in cases where the application has been rejected

But then again the refund may not be made well after you receive the visa. You will receive 2 mails in total. 1st one will be letter saying whether the application is accepted or rejected. If accepted it will say the BRP should arrive within a week. If rejected it should mention a reason why. The next package will contain the BRP.

Congratulations on making your little one official Resident of the UK! 

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