How to apply Indian passport and UK Visa for your baby born in India while you are in UK

How to apply Indian passport and UK Visa for your baby born in India while you are in UK

    It is really a  painstaking process to apply for UK dependant Visa for your new born kid. It took me two months to process everything . The problem was lack of information about the process. I am not talking about just visa process but everything else including passport application.

Things to check

There are certain things and process you need to make sure done long before applying for visa. I am wring this based on my own experience . Rules changes always and dont blame me for your negligence 

 1) Baby's Passport 

             It has to do online these days. It took me 5 working days to just to get an appointment through online [so the agent said and it varies everywhere in India ]. but the truth is you can do by yourself from home. I went through agent because i didn't know about this "manual to online" change of process while i applied..


           When you apply for your kid's passport while you are abroad, make sure your wife/Husband has her/his passport your name on it as spouse. It is very important. I didn't know about this and it took 3 weeks for me to take a new passport for my wife with my name on it. So make sure your name is on your spouse's passport.

Don't forget when you apply for passport  [not visa] 

        a) Sworn affidavit from High Commission of India near to your city in uk. Please click here to know how to get it.

        b) Your spouse's attested passport copy

       

        c) Passport size photo of your baby [please check correct dimension in application   

            form]

        

       d) Baby's birth Certificate [Orginal]

       e) Your marriage certificate [Orginal]

              I don't remember anything else. As i said earlier, its not official . please verify with           

              current application

 2) Attested Documents

         Copies of original documents often have to be certified by a Solicitor or Notary Public. For dependent visa, you need to provide your passport's attested copy. It includes each and every pages of your current and old passport. Yes, you have to give them blank pages as well [don't ask me, i don't know why]. I asked at least 5 agent's and  everyone said you have to attest blank pages. But i didn't gave any of blank pages. Still i got my kid's visa. so you can decide what you need. [honestly embassy people don't really check it.]

    Speaking of which , where will you go to do passport attestation? it simple : go to google and search " Notary Public or solicitor + your place".  Usually they will ask for minimum £5 - £10 per pages depends where you leave. I suggest to go to places where most Indians live [like wembley , southall , hounslow or east ham in London]  and look for a bargain. It is just a seal and a signature and there are a lot solicitor will do it for cheap.

      I went to a solicitor where i leave in north London and he said he could do it for minimum  £7 per page. Think how much it will cost for two passports [old and current] ? so when i went to wembley for something else, i visited a lot solicitors and found one Srilankan lady with not much business who offered it to me for £20 per passport. That is total £40  instead of £135. :)

3) Bank statement

     You have to provide last three months your bank statement with minimum balance of £533 per person. When i said £533, please dont go that low. just keep atleast £1500 to avoid confusion. You need to show minimum for those who applying not for those who are already you dependant. But you know how UK border agency love to refuse for visa without any reason. So if i were you, i would keep minimum balance for all your dependents. If you cant do it , dont worry . it is just another precation.

4) Your tenancy agreement form

      You may not have a tenancy agreement contract with your landlord or you may be sharing a house. But it is important to show that you have a house or a room that can accommodate two people and a baby. If you dont have an agreement contract you better go to a WhSmith or any stationary shop and ask for tenancy agreement form depends on your need. Make sure you fill it with your landlord. for additional proof you can give a letter from landlord saying that he is agreed to bring baby back to house. most of landlords will give you one if you ask. It is a good proof.

The rest of the things are easy to obtain but make sure do it properly.

 a) Employer's letter

 b) Three months salary slips

 c) If you are a student , letter from college/ Uni

 d) Utility Bill if you have any. it is not mandatory but helps in great deal if you have one. Utility  

      bill means telephone bill of BT ,talk talk or virgin but not any mobile bills. you can show gas  

      or electricity bill as well as electoral roll 

e) Marriage certificate 

f)  Baby's Birth Certificate

  

They asked me for my birth certificate. but i am not sure whether it was for passport or visa application.  So please make sure your birth certificate is in India with your spouse just in case.

It took three full weeks for me to obtain visa after applied this month [May 2012]. You can get it between 5 - 15 working days.  After 15 working days you can send message to them asking why it is late.

I wrote this based on my experience but i am not a professional in this field. Please consider this as just a base line on what to do. If query regarding this please refer to appropriate agency.

I will keep posted the details when i get more.....Pardon my spelling...... using my Blackberry playbook for typing