visa for stepchild
 

My husband is a UK citizen born in England, myself and daughter are US citizens born in USA. We lived in England for 2 years after we were married in 2007, then moved to the USA without either of us staying long enough for Five year leave remain. We are now considering returning to the UK permanently but my daughter turns 18 years old on Jan, 28, 2017 and my husband has never legally adopted her.

We understand that once she is 18 she may no longer be classed as a dependent of my husband but want to know whether we have to act now and make the application before she turns 18, or if we have more time and can wait as she will remain financially depedent on my husband as she intends to go to university for 4 years.

Can anyone offer any advice on our options? Greatly appreciate your help

Re: visa for stepchild
 

Your daughter must be under 18 in order to be included on your spouse visa application. Providing she is under 18 on the initial application she can included on subsequent applications for FLR and ILR even though she would be over 18 by that stage. You've probably left it too late now for your husband to adopt her and register her as a British citizen but if she is included on your visa application and remains in the UK with you then she too would be eligible for ILR in five years' time and can naturalise as a British citizen in her own right.