TMBC

Getting very conflicting advice and would really appreciate forum's advice. I'm a British Citizen by descent with a British Passport who commutes between UK and Canada for my school. Brought my family with me in August for a visit, as Canadians they don't need a visa to enter. Their CDN passports were stamped with "Leave to enter for 6 months, employment and recourse to public funds prohibited." Circumstances have changed and they've decided to stay with me and apply for a family visa. Spoke to Citizens Advice Bureau and a solicitor who claim they must return home to Canada to apply. UK gov website says "You’ll usually need to leave the UK to apply for a family visa if either: • you have permission to be in the UK as a visitor • your visa is for 6 months or less ". So as Canadians with leave to enter are they visitors? What does "usually" mean? Another part of UK gov site contradicts this in Section 284 saying " The requirements for an extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom are that: 2. (b) The leave was granted for a period of 6 months OR more (***not 6 mo or less as before, significant as their stamp says 6 months leave to enter). The online application for FLR(M) under "applying in the UK" also has a tick box on page 12 for “You are making a first application from within the UK but have not previously had leave to enter/remain as a partner of a settled person." Furthermore Premium and "Super Premium Service is available for the following application types: All Further Leave to Remain applications – any form name with a pre-fix “FLR” with the exception of (BUS) and (LR). Does anyone know if this is correct for Canadians, do we have to leave the UK to apply for a family visa or can we use the premium service and do it here? Our son has special needs and it would be very disruptive to separate us all. If we do have to leave do you have experience using VFS so they can keep their passport and return as visitors? Canada does not have the premium service available from what I can tell so we are looking at 6 months plus of separation if they have to apply from Canada and surrender their passports. Also if anyone has example of current waits from Toronto or Vancouver please advise.

BritInParis

You cannot switch from leave to enter as a visitor to any other visa from within the UK. Your family will need to return to Canada to apply for any kind of settlement visa.

Where were your parents born? How old is your husband? Does he have any British, Irish or other European ancestry of his own?

TMBC

Thanks for the quick reply! Do you happen to know the specific section of the immigration act that says this and are you certain this was not changed with the July 2018 new FLMR forms released after the home office lost their court case around separating families? If you can't apply from the UK why is that not mentioned as an exclusion criteria for premium service?

Re: "where are you parents born?" My father is British which is why I have a British passport by decent, which normally means you can't pass on to your child born outside the UK. I'm considering a Section 3.2 application for double descent which I understand are notoriously difficult to prove and I didn't keep alot of my mail from the last time I lived here. Any advice on how to get copies of old NHS and NIN and council tax correspondence from the 90s would be appreciated. My husband has no ties to Ireland or UK sadly.

BritInParis

Yes, I’m very sure. It’s a blanket rule that affects all visa types, not just family. I appreciate your father is British but I’m asking specifically where was he born? England? I’m presuming that your mother and her parents were born in Canada? Does your husband have a parent or grandparent born in any European country?

TMBC

Ok thank you. Father was born in Scotland in the 1950s. Mother born in Canada to British mother and Irish father. Sadly her birth was not registered on the Irish citizenship role and neither was mine before my kids were born so I can't get them an Irish passport. I can get one but the wait will likely be as long as for the family visa and not sure it helps as I can't pass it on to them. Husbands parents and grandparents are all Canadian or American, no ancestry connections to Europe.

BritInParis

Pity about the Irish citizenship. That would’ve solved a headache and saved you a bundle of cash.

As it stands your family will need to return to Canada to apply for their settlement visas. Are you able to meet the financial requirements?