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Happy Monday to everyone..

I am hoping that you will be able to help- or at the very least use our story to help others...
I am a U.S. Citizen; my husband and his 4 children are Scottish (16, 15, 11, 4); we have a 6month old little girl who is dual citizen (born in scotland).
I came to the UK Nov 2013 with intentions of leaving 2 weeks later to spend time with my boyfriend and to visit scotland. During these two weeks, my boyfriend became my fiancé and the company I worked for in the us went out of business. So, we decided for me to stay as I had a 6 month stamp and was under the impression it was legal to do so.
We found out I was pregnant and decided to contact the home office and do some research online as what we needed to do for me to move here legally. We were going to go the fiancé visa route. Upon calling the home office and doing a survey on gov.uk we were told to get married in the states. Come to the UK. Apply for leave to remain as spouse. We jumped on it - hell it was half the price and I needed to be out of the country for my 6 month stint anyhow!.
In March I returned to the states to keep within the 6 month allowance and to prepare for our wedding and moving. My husband followed a few weeks later and we were wed. We arrived back in the UK 1st of April. We applied around for the visa - and by this time we knew I was about 5 months pregnant- and had a return flight to go back to the US before my last trimester..just in case. However, I did not get my passport back in time and needed to have our daughter here.
During the application process social services removed his 4 children from his ex partners care due to abuse and neglect and awarded them to us (no court no child panel - just here you go). We found out 2 weeks before our daughter was born, after biometrics and such, that my visa was denied as 1) I applied from within the UK and 2) not enough supporting evidence of my husbands wages (we submitted 8months bank statements and a letter from his employer; he makes £21,000+/year). We decided I would take our daughter back to the states and reapply, however she was to young to fly and didn't have a passport yet.
I took a trip to Ireland and received the 90day visitor stamp there. Upon returning to the UK I was worried as I didn't go thru immigrations. I stopped an officer, showed him my US passport, my stamp from returning to the UK in April with my husband after being married, and my stamp from Dublin. He said I had an extra 90 days and have a good day
We applied for her passport, but were nervous about timing so made plans to go to Ireland again. Her passport came in so she went with me in December. Same thing happened upon entry back to Edinburgh - Upon returning to the UK I was worried as I didn't go thru immigrations. I stopped an officer, showed him my us passport, my stamp from returning to the UK in April with my husband after being married, and my stamp from dublin in September and again just then in December . He said I had an extra 90 days and have a good day
Unfortunately I went to Paris two weeks ago with my daughter. Upon coming back I was stopped at immigration with my daughter for several hours and questioned. They kept my passport and informed me I needed to return the following day. Tuesday I returned and was there for about 8 hours being questioned, detained, then informed I was being deported/refused right of entry. They booked a flight for me to leave the 9th but were going to send me to Paris. My daughter was not allowed to go with me. I could, however, change my flight to return to the us in the 18th to on/before the 10th and could take her with me. This is what we've done.
The IO told me, though it is not in writing, I should not return to the UK until I have a visa.

We've spoken with a few lawyers, and when we mention the Stringer Singh Route we are told that the UK is not honouring it, is not part of it and will not accept anyone in on that option. We want to be able to do this legally and properly - but are scared that the deportation and earlier visa denial will thwart the visa being approved. Upon further investigation, we are terrified this will not work as we do not have legal custody of his children AND, according to some online research, the UK government will not allow him to leave with their children without permission from their mother...which will NEVER happen..

We are at a total loss of which route to go. Do we fight the refusal of entry and try to hold out? Do I go back, file a visa and risk the finances and possibility of it being denied now that I have a refusal of entry and deport order? Do we try for the SSR, risk being called child abductors or send them back into unsafe conditions with their mother for a few months? Other alternatives? We are at a total loss with heads swimming to say the least..

Also, does anyone have experience/knowledge of this new requirement about no bills with NHS over 1k in order to get a visa? I had our daughter here, but was never asked billing information,,Now to hear that we may need to pay this back (5-10k?) before proceeding with a visa..?!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

formula

What made you think you could use the UK's healthservice for free? It's not free for visitors or overstayers and never has been. You should have used your travel insurance to meet your medical bills in the UK. You need to pay for all your use of the NHS including the birth of your daughter as you never were allowed free treatment from the UK. You could have applied for emergency documents from the US embassy in the UK to return to the US for your birth, or asked UKVI to return your passport to return home for the birth. The UK has no duty to pay your medical bills

As your husband earns over 18.6k, he can sponser you for a spouse visa BUT your application must be made from your own country. It seems you tried to apply for a spouse visa from inside the UK while you were a visitor and that is not allowed. That's why you were refused. Your husband only needs to earn 18.6 to sponsor you and you said he earns more than this so that won't be a problem. Your daughter is a UK citizen through her father and doesn't need sponsorship.

You could keep to the order to leave the UK and avoid making a further mess of your immigration status by receiving a 10 year ban from UK citizenship under a fail your Good Character requirement. Then pay your medical bills you owe to the UK so that your husband can then just sponsor you for a spouse visa. Attach receipt of payment for your NHS bills to your application made from the US. If you don't pay the medical bills you owe to the UK, then your visa will be refused. Perhaps use your travel insurance to meet some/all of your medical bills and see if your travel policy covered births too? When you then retrun to the UK on a Spouse visa, any NHS treatment and medication will be free from that point forward.

OR

You could try and fight this from within the UK, but it will be very long and very expensive; and I'm guessing much more expensive than those medicals bills you owe to the UK. You still may not get what you want and you would have to wait at least 10 years to UK citizenship. You would also need to pay all your medical bills while you stayed in the UK.

When you went to Ireland, it's part of the Common Travel area so no immigration check was needed, but you are not allowed to live in the UK on visitors visa (spend more time inside the UK then out of it in any 12 months) and, as you have found out, you need to pay for all your use of the NHS.

There is a very good forum for US citizens wanting to live in the UK and you can check what I have said on there.
Visas & Citizenship

SanDiegogirl

No point in putting in an appeal since you were rightly refused. You were in the UK and you CANNOT apply for a spouse visa while in the country.

I would return to the US, apply for a spouse visa from there, (you say your husband earns 21K a year so no financial problems),pay for priority services and you should get the visa within about 2 months.

From the sounds of it you have been trying to re-set your visitor visa and have now run out of luck.

Have you had a bill from the NHS yet? If not how do you know whether they are going to bill you and what the bill is? If you have had a bill then pay it.

On the visa application form there is a section which asks if you have had NHS treatment, so you had better be honest about this.

HKG3

According to the UK Visa's website, you are advice that you may wish to apply for a UK visa if you have previously been refused entry into the UK -

https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y/usa/tourism