reenie87

Hi everyone!

So sorry if this has been covered in previous posts, I have spent a lot of time searching and haven’t found anyone in a similar position.

I am British and my husband is Canadian. We have been living together in Canada for the last 10 years. We are expecting our first child at the end of March 2021. We would like to move right after the baby is born to be closer to family and intend on applying before I am due. I have been working with my current employer for 2 years earning over the required £18,600 and I understand that I need to secure a job offer in the UK starting within 3 months of our intended return date.

I have a few questions:

1. Am I obligated to start this job? (I understand I can’t apply for benefits) I would like to spend longer with my newborn before returning to work and once my husband gets the visa and secures work we may have to relocate.
   
2. I have seen from other people posts that the application asks “do you have any children” & “are you travelling with any children”. At the intended time of application our baby wont be born but then we will be travelling with him after so how do we answer this? I am frightened if they know I am pregnant they will think that I won’t start working or the job isn’t genuine etc. The baby will be British and therefore doesn’t need a visa which is why we thought about apply before he was born and to get there quicker. Will we have to travel separately?

If anyone has experience with this I would really appreciate your insight. We just want to get to the UK safely and quickly as possible without any worries.

Thank you!!

SanDiegogirl

YOU, the Brit, are expected to have a job in the UK in order to support the spouse you are sponsoring. So the authorities are looking for a genuine job offer/contract fulfilling the financial requirements From the sounds of it you are planning on 'getting a job' but not actually taking it up.
You can, in practise, do this but you should ensure that, since the authorities might/can check up on this job offer, there is actually a company/job to check up on.
If you have a child when you are travelling, then, yes, you need to declare him/her.
You should also get a Brit passport for the child before you travel to ensure no issues at the border.

reenie87

Hi SanDiegoGirl! Thank you for your reply.

yes absolutely, it will be genuine job offer from a real company but how long do I have to stay in that job and yes do I have to take it up at all? I don’t want to jeopardize my husband getting the visa so if I have to stay in the job for a certain period of time then I’ll do that. Any thoughts? (Again to be clear it is my intention to work but I was hoping for more than 3 months maternity)

Would you recommend to wait until we have had the baby to apply then? We were trying to keep the financial requirement portion of the application as simple as possible. I plan to take my maternity leave/pay a month before I am due. Do you know if this puts me in category A or B? Is maternity pay considered a break in your employment? Are you familiar with that at all? Yes we will get a british passport for the baby thank you.

sorry for so many questions, appreciate your help!

SanDiegogirl

You can stay in the job for as long or short as you like.
The issuing of the visa will be b ased on the information given in the application. Once the visa is issued what you do is up to you.
There is no additional financial requirement in the application for the child if it is a British citizen at birth (which you say it will be)
Read the following document carefully to see how using maternity pay is taken into consideration for an application:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigrat...ified-evidence

Although all the reference to maternity pay etc in this document are relevant to being paid these benefits in the UK.
I'm beginning to be bit confused as to how you intend to apply using Canadian maternity benefits? and/or how you are obtaining a job in the UK when you will be either very pregnant when you return or have just given birth?

If you have worked for your current employer for 6 months or more then you apply under Cat A.

reenie87

thank you for the link, yes it’s frustrating as most of the information I have found on the gov.uk website has been relevant to receiving maternity in the UK. It does say however that you can use maternity from overseas towards your financial requirements but it’s not clear if I can include my wage 6 months prior like you can in the UK. I found this article below that states that all of the rules also apply to people applying from overseas so if that is correct I should be able to use my wage 6 months prior to applying for maternity and meet the requirements no problem. Does that make sense?

https://www.migrate.org.uk/maternity...-sick-uk-visa/

if we apply after the baby is born then I would have only received 1 months pay of maternity (baby is due end of March, I will start Maternity a month prior) We will then return to the UK (Covid depending) in June, so baby will be 2 or so months old and then I will start work shortly after (as it’s up to 3 months after your return date right?) I have a few options for work but potentially I can transfer from my current job to our UK office.

knowing this now, do you still think it’s better to apply before or after the child is born? Thanks!!

SanDiegogirl

I dont think it makes much difference from a practical point of view whether you go with submitting an application before or after the birth.
What is important is that you choose a period either 6 months before your maternity leave started OR 6 months prior to submitting the application and either of these periods must show you earned the equivalent of 18,600 GBP.
I suppose this decision depends on how much you earn normally and how much you get for maternity pay.
Yes, you have to have a job to return to in the UK starting within 3 months of your return.

reenie87

makes sense, ok great, thank you very much for your help!