britinchina

Hello everyone,

I'm British and hold a UK Passport. My wife is Chinese and we have 2 children. One child has a British Passport, the other a HK Passport. We currently live in China but hope to move back to the UK this Summer via the savings route.

See below a few questions:

1. What is the savings requirement for me to sponsor my Chinese wife and our 2 kids? I saw the figure 78,000 pounds mentioned on this forum but can't find it on the UK government website.

2. If we have 80,000+ pounds in savings do I still need to have a job offer before I return to the UK?

3. As our two daughters currently have a British and HK passport respectively would it be best to apply for a British passport for our second daughter or is this not essential?

Thank you so much for all the help and advice you provide on this forum.

Alastair

Uxbridge219

Hi Alastair,
Welcome to BE forum.
Since we are in the same time zone, here are my 0.02 for you.

1. If you managed to get a British passport for your 1st child, then why not for your 2nd kid? Reason being this will reduce the total sum of your savings requirement, and also make your life slightly easier.

2. Assuming 2nd kid successfully obtain a British passport, you will only need GBP 62,500 to sponsor your Chinese wife. Pls dont forget this sum of money must be in the bank (either your name or joint name) for at least 6 months prior to your application.

3. As for your Chinese wife, if she was born in Hong Kong before 1st Jul 1997, she should be eligible for a BNO passport. It is advisable for her to apply the
spouse visa using BNO passport which would give her a slight advantage.
Pls see post# 12
http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...g-kong-887558/

4. With GBP 80k+ in the bank, you dont need a job offer before returning to the UK.

5. In terms of GBP 78k, it is correct.
(18,600 + 3,800 + 2,400) x 2.5 yrs + 16,000 = 78,000
18,600 = min threshold to meet
3,800 = 1st child
2,400 = 2nd child
16,000 = no idea where it is from

Hope some senior members from this forum will correct my answers if I am wrong in any of them......

spouse of scouse

If the sponsoring Brit citizen only has to meet the financial requirements for their spouse, they only need £62,500 for the savings route.

quiltman

So long as you get a UK passport for your second daughter, then yes, £62,500 is all that's needed and you do not need a job to go to in UK.
If not, then you need , I believe, £66300.(you and one child)
Additionally I think your wife will need to pay the NHS supplement of £200 per year until permanent residence approved. Hopefully our guru, Brit In Paris will be along with the true requirements!

britinchina

Thank you all so much for your quick reply and kind help.

See below a few quick follow-up questions:

1. a) If my oldest daughter has her HK Passport in the UK can she use the NHS and attend state schools without having to pay a fortune?
b) Are there any other disadvantages of her keeping her HK passport while living in the UK? c) Anyone know if it's ok for her to keep both her HK Passport and also obtain a British Passport?

2. Currently I have the savings in shares and will transfer them to cash in order to make the application.

a) Has anyone successful done this on this site?
b) what evidence is sufficient?
c) Is a photocopy of the portfolio report enough or do you need the original?
d) Are any other documents needed?

According to the government website it says the following " She is able to provide a portfolio report showing that the value of the liquidated assets was at least £62,500 7 months prior to the date of application. "

According to the financial requirements on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...equirement.pdf

“7.4.15. Case studies – Cash savings previously held as investments or property
Example (a)
The applicant’s partner has an investment portfolio worth approximately £1m, although this value fluctuates. In order to meet the financial requirement, she liquidates part of her investment 2 months prior to the date of application and transfers £62,500 in cash to her personal savings account. She is able to provide a portfolio report showing that the value of the liquidated assets was at least £62,500 7 months prior to the date of application. The cash savings meet the requirements of Appendix FM-SE at the date of application and, by combining the period the money was held as investments with the period the money has been held as cash savings, the funds have been owned by the applicant’s partner and under their control for at least the 6 months prior to the date of application.
So the financial requirement is met through Category D cash savings.
“

Any experience from people on this forum who have used this approach to apply would be much appreciated.

Thanks again everyone for your kind help.

Alastair

Uxbridge219

a) If my oldest daughter has her HK Passport in the UK can she use the NHS and attend state schools without having to pay a fortune?

HKSAR passport allows dual nationality, so is British passport.
As long as she is using her British passport, then she can enjoy NHS, attend state school without paying a penny. (my mate a British citizen in HK sends his HK born son to UK for schooling in state primary school without paying anything. So, yes).

b) Are there any other disadvantages of her keeping her HK passport while living in the UK?

shouldnt make any difference at all.
Suggest to keep her HKSAR passport. One day, if she returns HK to work/live, she doesnt need work visa etc.

c) Anyone know if it's ok for her to keep both her HK Passport and also obtain a British Passport?
as said in (a)

britinchina

Thanks a lot for clarifying. I will apply for her British passport ASAP. As she has the HK passport it should be a piece of cake. Good idea to keep her HK passport as you say, in case she decides to study or work in HK in the future. Thanks again.

HKG3

Alastair

you should consider registering your children's births with the British authorities. By doing this, it will be easier for your children to get a hold of their own birth certificates in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth

HKG3

Alastair,

Two points which you may find useful -

1) You can open UK bank accounts in Hong Kong before the family moving to the UK. Both HSBC and the Bank of East Asia offer this service in Hong Kong.

https://www.hsbc.com.hk/personal/hsb...s-account.html

https://www.hkbea.com/html/en/bea-in...-services.html

2) Does your wife have a Hong Kong driving licence? She can exchange her Hong Kong driving licence to an UK one without driving test.

https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-...tain/hong-kong

Novocastrian

It's from the savings "needed" to be disqualified from certain means tested benefits.

scot47

Eh ? I am totally baffled !

britinchina

HKG3 thanks for your prudent advice. I know we registered our youngest daughter's birth at the British Consulate in Shanghai but I don't think we registered our oldest daughter. I hadn't thought of this. I will do it when I apply for her British passport in HK.

My wife has a driving licence from mainland China (not HK) so I assume she will have to take the test again in the UK. A good job too....for everyone's safety, including her own!

Thanks again.

Novocastrian

Perhaps that was too succinctly put scot47. The point (for those who think there is one) of the financial requirements is to ensure that non-EU spouses entering the UK on a SV won't be eligible to access means tested benefits for five years.

The annual income of £18600 is set to prevent this, as is the savings threshold of £16000. i.e. if you have income above the threshold OR savings above the other one: no benefit eligibility.

stuexeter

As long as you can prove that the children a British citizens, i.e. you are the father who is British and you are listed on their birth certificate, then it doesn't matter which passport they have?

BritInParis

Having a British father doesn't mean you are a British citizen. A Chinese passport holder requires a visa to travel to the UK so they won't even be allowed to board the plane. The OP should obtain valid British citizen passports for both his children before starting the application process for his wife's visa.