illegitimate line and Ancestry Visas

Hi There,

I am looking to apply for an Ancestry visa through my paternal grandfather who was born in Scotland. Here's the issue, my dad was born in 1945 and was illegitimate since my grandparents where not married when my dad was born (they never married). MY grandfather's information is not included on my dad's birth certificate as Ontario Law at the time didn't allow the fathers to put on illegitimate children's birth certificates. Now, my dad always knew my grandfather was his biological father, was given my grandfathers surname (McDonald) and my grandfather was always part of my dad's life. While my grandfather's information is missing on my dad's birth certificate his information is on my parent's wedding certificate, my grandfather's death certificate lists my dad as his son. We have my grandfather's Scottish birth certificate. I am not sure this is enough information to prove ancestry.

Hi there

From what i have read you need to prove your case. So my advice is if you submit all the docs you have and attach a letter explaining what you just have above. They are happy for you to give explanations as to why certain things are missing. It will be a difficult one. Put yourself in their shoes if you where the imm officer making the decision to grant the visa. Make sure that the letter attached sells you to them. You wont know unless you try and i hold thumbs that the person working on your visa is a good one. GOOD LUCK!

Remember that if they refuse your visa you have the right to object in which case i would involve a Lawyer in the process.

As Barbie said, you need to show proof that your grandfather is your dad's biological father. You need to provide as much evidence as you can. Wedding certificates, obituaries, wills, etc. anything you can to show a relationship between your dad and your grandfather.

I had a very similar situation to yours with my mother being an illegitimate child and her biological dad being born in Wales. I ended up having to hire a visa specialist to help me with this. We provided birth certificates, wedding certificates, a copy of my grandfather's will and obituary, a letter from my mother explaining her background etc. It took a ton of effort but I was approved. Part of it was just luck I met with an immigration officer at the UK Embassy in Toronto who was nice and was in a good mood