sm16

Hi there,
I hope there is someone here who can help me with a couple of questions that I think should be easily answered but I can not find the answers myself!

I am British and my wife is Russian and my son has both British and Russian passports. We plan to head to the UK on the settlement visa using savings.

Questions
1) Do my wife and child get immediate access to the NHS and the local GP?
2) Are we entitled to the free 15 hours of childcare per week?

I think the answers are Yes and No but I would appreciate an 'experts' point of view as well! Thanks

Also could someone please clarify the type of visa to apply for: is it a "family of a settled person visa"? and although I am not settled there yet I will be moving with my family to live in the UK with them.

Thanks in advance, congrats to those who I saw have recently completed this process and good luck to all those just starting!

between two worlds

Hi and welcome!

If you haven't done so already, start by going to the subforum (within Moving Back to the UK) called Citizenship/passports and Spouse/Family visas.
That's also a place where visa questions are posted and answered.

At the top of that page you'll find a wiki link which gives information on the process.
Also Pollyanna's "read me" thread is helpful.

I do agree that from the government guidance it is very hard to sort out clear information!

Re your first question, you and your British son will have immediate access to the NHS and GP if you can show you are coming back to UK to settle.
Your wife will have immediate access too if she has the spouse visa.

I don't know about the childcare.

The kind of visa you want for your wife is indeed the Family of a settled person visa--under the category of spouse.
Even though you the British citizen are not yet "settled" there, you have the right to be, and this is the right visa...they really SHOULD change the wording though, as this is confusing and the question comes up time and time again.

Go to this page https://www.gov.uk/visas-immigration

and work your way (or your wife will work her way) through "check if you need a UK visa"--you may have done this already.
Then--if you can do online applications from Russia--just go to "apply for a UK visa" and you/she can fill in the form right online.

In some places the online form seems generic and I think it may be used for various types of visa, but right near the beginning it asks what your (or in this case your wife's) basis is for coming to the Uk (or similar wording) and she puts spouse of a British citizen right there, so the application is now an application for a "spouse visa."

You will also need to fill in Appendix 2 to show how you fulfil the financial requirements. But you probably know that as you've been reading the threads people have posted about their application process.

Good luck!

sm16

Thanks 'Between'

The government info is confusing but I am glad I was in the right track. I will repost my question about childcare on the sub forum