# Pregnant on UK Visitor visa



## macca75 (May 23, 2015)

Hello

I have been in the UK about a month (on a 6 month visitor visa) and found out a few days ago that I am pregnant!
I am staying with my British partner and our original plan was to get married outside of the UK ( still yet to find out where we can get married near the UK legally recognised) because apparently we can't get married here whilst I'm on a visitor visa. 
Then I was going to apply for a spouse visa from NZ, my partner will return to UK. And then once approved (hopefully) i would go back to the UK to stay as his wife/spouse.

Ok....Now that I am pregnant and under time/flying restrictions etc things have changed. 
If we find somewhere to get married can I still apply for a spouse visa from NZ and hopefully once approved return to have our baby with my new husband in the UK? Is that going to look bad? 


We are still yet to find a suitable place that is noticed by UK and NZ that is close by but not in the UK.
We have been together over 2 years and I'm only about 4 weeks pregnant. Can do paternity test no problem too incase that could be an issue for immigration.


Would love any advice. 

Thankyou

Macca


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Get married somewhere, return to NZ and apply for spouse visa. Quite feasible.


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## HKG3 (Jan 11, 2015)

If your other half and the baby's father is a British Citizen by being born or naturalise in the UK, the child will be a British Citizen by descent and will not have an impact on the spouse visa financial requirement.


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## Court287 (Jun 18, 2015)

If you receive any sort of medical care while in the UK for the pregnancy, make sure it's handled privately or your spouse visa could be denied. Also, from what I've read regarding the health surcharge associated with the spouse visa application, they will not cover dental, pre-existing conditions, or pregnancy... Just a heads up. (At least from usa side, although I'm sure it'll be the same for NZ)


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

No it's not. NZ citizens like Australians are exempt from health surcharge because of reciprocal agreements. Also they are entitled to NHS care just like British citizens.


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## Enami123 (Jul 27, 2015)

Joppa said:


> No it's not. NZ citizens like Australians are exempt from health surcharge because of reciprocal agreements. Also they are entitled to NHS care just like British citizens.


 hello Joppa i really would like to ask u few questions but i can t send u a message because i m new here , is there any other way ? Thank you


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

My message function is switched off. You can only ask questions here on the forum.


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## HatakeSage (Feb 4, 2015)

Court287 said:


> If you receive any sort of medical care while in the UK for the pregnancy, make sure it's handled privately or your spouse visa could be denied. Also, from what I've read regarding the health surcharge associated with the spouse visa application, they will not cover dental, pre-existing conditions, or pregnancy... Just a heads up. (At least from usa side, although I'm sure it'll be the same for NZ)


Excuse me but where did you see that? All I'm seeing is: "_Will pregnant women be exempt from the surcharge? Pregnant non EEA temporary migrants are not exempt. Those who have paid the 
surcharge will be able to access the NHS in line with permanent residents for the 
duration of their leave. This includes prenatal, child birth and post natal care._"

That means that this person could be fine on a spouse visa despite being pregnant, doesn't it? That the NHS will pay for anything so long as they've paid their fee.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

macca75 said:


> Hello
> 
> We are still yet to find a suitable place that is noticed by UK and NZ that is close by but not in the UK.


Try Denmark:

I got married here:

Marriage

But if you do a search there are plenty of other places offering the same that might be more convenient - close to an airport, etc. Tonder was just the closest place to the German border, so it worked for us.


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## Enami123 (Jul 27, 2015)

Joppa said:


> My message function is switched off. You can only ask questions here on the forum.


My problem is that i m afraid of getting my spouse visa refuses because me and my husband didn t put enough pictures of us , we used a solicitor so i think we have a strong file , my husband comes to visit me often but i m just worried about the pictures thing , do you think they can refuse because of That ? My husband is british btw thank you for your help


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

No just on absence of pictures, but you must demonstrate a genuine, subsisting relationship. Did you provide enough evidence of that, starting with carefully-crafted letters of introduction and sponsorship?


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## Court287 (Jun 18, 2015)

HatakeSage said:


> Excuse me but where did you see that? All I'm seeing is: "_Will pregnant women be exempt from the surcharge? Pregnant non EEA temporary migrants are not exempt. Those who have paid the
> surcharge will be able to access the NHS in line with permanent residents for the
> duration of their leave. This includes prenatal, child birth and post natal care._"
> 
> That means that this person could be fine on a spouse visa despite being pregnant, doesn't it? That the NHS will pay for anything so long as they've paid their fee.


I can't find the original site just now, but here's another...
Entitlement to free NHS maternity care for women from abroad (in England) | Maternity Action
Scotlands:
Entitlement to free NHS maternity care for women from abroad (Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland) | Maternity Action

If I recall properly, it's because as on a spouse visa we are not technically settled until ILR application is complete. It seems to be a bug loophole. I will keep looking for the original article issued by NHS or the home office.


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## HatakeSage (Feb 4, 2015)

Court287 said:


> I can't find the original site just now, but here's another...
> Entitlement to free NHS maternity care for women from abroad (in England) | Maternity Action
> Scotlands:
> Entitlement to free NHS maternity care for women from abroad (Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland) | Maternity Action
> ...


Thanks for replying,
I see on the second link where it states:

*Individuals who are considered to be ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK are entitled to free NHS care.*
and then it goes to say: Individuals who are considered to be ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK are entitled to free NHS care.
To be ‘ordinarily resident’, UK and EEA nationals must be living lawfully in the UK and be ‘settled’ in the UK.
You are considered to be living lawfully in the UK if you have permission from the UK Government to live here. For example, you have a UK or EU passport or indefinite leave to remain.
You are considered to be ‘settled’ in the UK if you have been living here *lawfully for six months or more and plan to stay longer*. You may be considered to be ‘settled’ in the UK if you have lived here for less than six months but can show that you are intending to stay for longer than 6 months. For example, you have taken a job here, your children have started school here, or you have taken out a lease on your accommodation.

also 
*NHS maternity care is provided free of charge to women who are;*
considered to be ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, or
EEA nationals who are insured by another European state, or
exempt from charges (including people who have paid the health surcharge).


I would think that you are considered to be an ordinary resident if you're staying on a spousal visa or anything beyond 6+ months for settlement also if you paid the NHS charge.

Anyway, sorry about everything I hate to go off topic, its just I'm wondering about this woman's care now. I think it seems to say in that link that as long as you pay and you're a resident, you will have NHS care for maternity, and also my own. This is the first time I've heard of it. Can anyone point me in a deep location to review these things?


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## jcmtyler (Nov 5, 2015)

I ran across this thread recently and wanted to correct something that I think is inaccurate.


HatakeSage said:


> Individuals who are considered to be ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK are entitled to free NHS care.
> and then it goes to say: Individuals who are considered to be ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK are entitled to free NHS care.
> To be ‘ordinarily resident’, UK and EEA nationals must be living lawfully in the UK and be ‘settled’ in the UK.
> You are considered to be living lawfully in the UK if you have permission from the UK Government to live here. For example, you have a UK or EU passport or indefinite leave to remain.
> *You are considered to be ‘settled’ in the UK if you have been living here lawfully for six months or more and plan to stay longer. You may be considered to be ‘settled’ in the UK if you have lived here for less than six months but can show that you are intending to stay for longer than 6 months. For example, you have taken a job here, your children have started school here, or you have taken out a lease on your accommodation.*


I've read through a lot of the information on gov.uk related to immigration as we are in the process of applying for visas and making travel arrangements now. I've also spoken with two different immigration advisors, one from my company and the other a private attorney in London. The term 'settled in the UK' is used extensively throughout the immigration code and has a specific meeting which I believe is more stringent than what's quoted above. 

From (apologies, new member, can't post links) gov.uk/settle-in-the-uk
Settlement, also called Indefinite Leave to Remain, means you can stay in the UK without any time restrictions. There is a straightforward questionnaire that you can work through at that link to tell you if you qualify as 'settled in the UK'. When I spoke to our immigration advisors, the way they described it is that you are no longer under the control of a temporary visa, such as a tier 1 / 2 work visa, tier 4 student visa, standard 6-month visitor visa, etc. There are some specifics for different situations of course, but it's definitely more than just living in the UK for 6 months or more with a plan to stay longer. More information about how to apply for this settlement status (which could also be called 'permanent residency', like having a Green Card in the US) can be found at gov.uk/government/publications/application-to-settle-in-the-uk-form-seto.

I wanted to point this out because this issue has caused my own family some recent stress as we are learning some of the nuances of the UK immigration system. I had started out with an understanding similar to what was quoted above, but once we got into the details of applying for a visa, we found out that was far from sufficient. Please do your research, gov.uk and citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-rights/immigration/help-with-immigration-problems are fantastic resources, and if necessary speak to an immigration advisor.

Good luck!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

The quote is from an NHS site and they use the word 'settled' (in terms of eligibility for free NHS care) in a different way from immigration rules. So you are both correct, but you are talking about different things. What the statement is saying is, for NHS care, those who are 'on their way' to eventual 'settlement' (under immigration rule definition) are eligible from the start.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

This is a 3 month old thread. 

The links provided are not immigration related they are healthcare related so the information is correct as it relates to healthcare and has nothing to do with the immigration definition of settled.


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## jcmtyler (Nov 5, 2015)

Apologies and thank you for clarifying. I had read from the original post that they were looking for advice on obtaining a visa when pregnant, but you're right of course the quote I used was specific to NHS.


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