nohinsara

First off I must say that the headache is all (apparently) my fault!

I took in a lot of information on this forum (mostly posts by JAJ) and also on various other websites regarding my Canadian born son and what we would encounter on entering the UK with him. I realized he would need a visa, but...

We came here anyway. Me, my Canadian born son, and my German born son. And of course, there were problems at Customs. The officer told me that he, as a Canadian National, had no rights to live here, or attend school. Even though I knew in the back of my mind this would happen, I was still shocked. He was a dependent of me, a person with a British Passport, and should be allowed to live with me in my country of Citizenship, to my way of thinking.

Perhaps it was the fact that we never had one single problem in Germany, an EU country, that lead me to believe it would be ok, I don't know.

In the end the Officer gave my son a 6 months visitor's visa (after putting the fear of GOD into us, of course), and said we would have to sort it out at the Home Office.

The form the Home Office wants us to fill out is called SET (F), and the cost is £997 by post and £1377 if done in person. There is a lot more to this story as to what I had to deal with regarding the home office, but my family, outraged at this whole ridiculous problem, encouraged me to contact the MP for our area and get some help. I was then passed on to the MP's Immigration Specialist, who has helped a great deal in the matter so far.

He's told me that the UK is the only EU country that does not allow spouses and dependent children into the country of its citizens, and that this ordeal that we've gone through is actually, in fact, an infraction on my son's human rights. We are fighting to get ILR for my son, but technically, he already has it. Apparently the law made by the government and the basics of human rights are in conflict over this exact issue. The government, when encountering these types of cases, usually issues a waiver so as to avoid there being an appeal and a court precedent to change the law.

In the end, my son is enrolled in school and registered with the NHS, despite all of this, because he has a right to education and health and well being.

I'm not really sure what my point is to writing this, perhaps just to let other people know what we went through, warn them of what they are in for if they go the same route. Maybe I just wanted to vent about the silly laws in this country that seem to do nothing more that ensure that innocent people suffer and try to squeeze more money out of them in the process.

Despite all of this, we're happy to be home and hope the worst is behind us now.

Alfresco

Kudos to you!

Hope you all settle in well and enjoy!

jemima55

Sorry you had to go through all that. I hope you get that waiver. I think your post is very valuable for anyone in a similar situation.

Mummy in the foothills

What a mess!
So did they say what kind of visa he should have had before leaving Canada? Was it just a right of abode stamp in his passport thats needed?

vikingsail

Sorry to hear about your situation but just from your writing and approach you seem to have the situation in hand and under control.

Just to make you smile I once was delayed at the great ivory tower Heathrow because my partner at the time was visiting for a weekend while on business. Despite being in full US military uniform with ID , passport and orders (as if it was not obvious) to return. They were delayed by the immigration service because they thought she was likely to be a risk and was deciding to fly over to the UK and stay in such an overt way

I don't think her attitude helped... something about "Its not me who's coming here that is the problem we have a problem with your lot coming over to the US. Always the consummate facilitator. Fast forward many years later I think the immigration service were just trying to protect me from a life of hell

I have learnt bureaucracy is the same wherever you happen to live, just look at the thread here about taking your US driving license. i think it is a certain type of DNA/ gene pool they all come from. I just wish scientists would study it for elimination.

Jerseygirl

Interesting. We had a discussion in the US forum a couple of months on this subject. Some said children of UKC (who were Brits by descent) would be allowed to live in the UK without a UK PP...others said not. Thank you for posting your experience of trying to enter the UK with your children.

SanDiegogirl

Did your son have a British passport when you were entering the UK or only a Canadian one?

If he did not have a British passport and/or you had not registered his birth with the British authorities in Canada, then even though YOU are a UK citizen, he is not seen as being a British citizen - and hence has no legal right to reside in the UK

This is no different to UK folks in the US having children in the US and then returning to the UK. They are often advised to get their children UK passports in order to live in the UK.

A British passport is the only true proof of someone being a British citizen and hence having the right to live in the UK.

Jerseygirl

I think the OP is British by descent...therefore it is unlikely her children are British. A UK PP is not the only true proof of citizenship...what about a British birth certificate...or the certificate from a UK embassy after the birth?

nohinsara

Jerseygirl is right, I did claim by decent, and that's where this whole problem originates. If my Mum would have just had me here instead of running off to Canada, this whole issue would be moot. But... Because of that, my children are not British by default. They must live here in the UK for a period of 3 years first and then claim themselves.

Technically under the law, my son was supposed to have a visa to enter this country as he was born in Canada. However, my point is that the law contradicts his human rights. He is a dependent of me and my partner who are both EU, and so he has the right to stay with us until he is 18.

They can try to kick out a 5 year old if they want, but I think that there is a better chance of snowballs in hell than of that coming to pass. I will go to the media and make a big nasty mess of it if I have to!

vikingsail is right, there is bureaucracy everywhere, and all they want is your money and to hack down more acres of endangered rainforest to fuel their insatiable need for paper making.

Mummy in the foothills - They want his to complete a SET (F) application which is for family members of a British National. If he was successful, he would get ILR, which I've been told is a bit ridiculous as he technically already has it under human rights law.
And of course they expect us to pay near £1000 to get it.

It's insane. Think of it this way, what if I were in dire need, coming from Canada back to the UK because I had nowhere else to go, no money. Would they deny my son entry then and demand I pay this money for this visa (which then stipulates I may not have access to public funds!) or turn me away from my own country?
Basically they are saying - Don't come back unless you have the money to.

quoll

As a Canadian with a UK born grandparent, could he not have got an Ancestry visa?

morayeel

I have been following the thread and what a terrible time of it. I moved over to UK May this year. My daughter and grandson want to come over and live. She was born UK and has dual citizenship. She has UK and US passport. Her son was born in US, he is eight years old. He has an US pasport. She has legal and physical custody of him. She was going to come over without getting his UK passport but from what I read its best for her to apply for his UK passport, that way they can't (or shouldn't) give her any hassle at the airport? I came in may and was given the habitual residence test. I sent off the test June 1st so hoping to hear something back as do I qualify for any benefits since I have been out of the UK for a long time.

Jerseygirl

Your daughter may still need to get the father's consent to remove her son from the US.

SanDiegogirl

You daughter should get a British passport for her son. Since she is going to the UK to live and not visit this will make it much easier at UK immigration.

SanDiegogirl

No, the applicant has to be over 17 . The grandparent also has to be born before 1922.

SanDiegogirl

I am probably going to be shotdown in flames with this post, but I don't see what the OP is complaining about.

The OP is British by descent (her mother a British citizen was living in Canada when she gave birth to the OP). The OP has lived her whole life in Canada. She is not able to pass her British citizenship to her son. Her son is Canadian.

Contrary to what the OP says, the only place where her son has the 'right'to live with her, have access to schooling and health care is Canada.

So OP needed a visa for son to move with her to the UK. She was advised on this earlier, but chose not to do so. At UK immigration she says she was given a hard time by the POE but, really, he was just doing his job. The OP did not have the relevant visa in order to allow her son to live in the UK. The POE provided a visitor's visa and advised her to obtain the relevant resident visa for her son.

She says than an immigration official told her that the UK is the only place that does not allow spouses and dependents of its citizens into the country. Not true. The US for example does not allow the spouses and dependent of its citizens into the US without visas if the said spouses and dependents are not US citizens - and the process takes a whole lot longer than entering the UK.

This has nothing to do with human rights, this is immigration law.

Her son is now in school (free) and has access to the NHS (free)- 'technically' since the son is on a visitor's visa he does not have access to the NHS apart from emergency treatment, another little technicality the OP has forgotten, but lets not get into that).

In other countries the son would undoubtedly not have free access to both of those benefits.

I suggest the OP pay up for the necessary visa.

With respect to what would have happened had she returned to the UK with no money and then been expected to pay for the visa, had she applied for the visa in the first place she would have been asked for supporting evidence that she could support her son (s) without recourse to public funds. If she had shown that she did not have the monetary funds to support her family, she would have been refused the visa for her son until such time as co-sponsors came along to do so.

The fact that she by-passed the visa application stage, meant that she also bypassed proving the monetary requirements.

See below:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...tled/children/

Ready to be flamed .....