Starting the ancestry Visa process

Hey guys, we are in a pickle. We need friendly advice from you lovely people. This is the situation...

- my girlfriend is canadian, her name is Sarah. She is lovely.
- she is here in the UK on a student visa which runs out on 31st Oct.
- she needs to be here on the 31st and the subsequent months.
- she has a grandparent that was born in the UK
- she wants to apply for an ancestry visa
- she can go back for a couple of weeks at beginning of Oct to get that visa, but then must re-enter on her shiny new ancestry visa.
- How does she go about applying for the ancestry visa without phoning the $12 /min phone number for help.
- Does she need to manually fill out a form and post?
- Can she fill in an application online? We tried that and got very confused as to whether we were filling out the right thing. EEA members and silly talk like that.
- Basically I think we'd like to hear from someone who has had a very similar situation and exactly the process they went through.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Michael and Sarah

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... ukancestry

form seems pretty straightforward, though lengthy.

Michael and Sarah,

I read this thread and your other one. It's probably best to keep all related posts in one thread, such that it keeps all information in one spot. I cannot imagine there would be any issues with applying for the Ancestry visa before the student one expires, but you'll probably want to get on that this week if she's going to Canada at the start of October.

If she doesn't already have long-form birth certificates for herself, her UK-born grandparent and the relevant parent then she'll need to order these ASAP. They generally take 2-3 weeks and you'll need them when you enroll for biometrics. You can Google: "_____ birth certificate" (subbing out ____ for country/province) to get the forms necessary to get these certificates. It also helps to have other supporting documentation as recommended. The more you can submit the better.

When you've got all the documentation, go to the Visa4UK website (this forum blocked the link and subsequently deleted the nice post I had written up), but there's a link to it in the UKVisas link provided by agnelson.

Then click on the blue "Apply now for a UK Visa" button. It might say "Down for Maintenance," since it just said that when I tried it now, but at one point, it'll let you through and you can fill out the questions from there. Just make sure you specify "Ancestry Visa" when it asks you what type of visa you're applying for. I can't remember if you have to go into "Other" or not. From there it should be a straightforward process.

I don't know if she'll have to make an appointment for biometrics since she might have done that with the student visa. If she needs to do that, then things might get complicated. She'll have to go to Canada for the appointment, give them her passport, and wait around in Canada until she gets the passport back. I was quite lucky in that I got mine back in 4 business days, but the consensus seems to be about 2 weeks. It's generally a bad idea to book your flight until you get your passport back. This might make it difficult to ensure she's back in the UK at the end of October, but I don't know exact dates or how busy their offices are. I'm also just speaking on the experience of getting my Ancestry Visa about 2 months ago.

Good luck.

Jim.

P.S. If Sarah does have to go back to Canada and has her choice of biometrics offices, I'd suggest Ottawa since they send your passport there anyways. It won't make more than a day or two's difference since everything is shipped priority courier, though.

Hey guys, we are in a pickle. We need friendly advice from you lovely people. This is the situation...

Did you ever get a definite answer to the question of overlapping visas? I have a similar issue (currently applying for PSW even though my student one is still valid).... the general consensus seems to be that it is not an issue but am still worried. Same situation here, Canadian with student visa, British bf, sitting here in Toronto waiting for this darn visa, anxiously want to be back in the UK by early Nov. as I miss him and need to start looking for jobs before everything shuts down for December/Christmas! Good luck to you guys

Hi there,

Question for all?!?!

I am about to apply for my ancestry visa for the UK, but I have some questions for whomever can answer....

I am having trouble sourcing my mothers FULL birth certificate and was curious to know if I cannot get my hands on this would that be a problem? I have her basic original birth certificate.

I am also wondering how long the wait is for the initial interview once you have applied online?

I do not want to apply until I obviously have all the supporting documents, but have had no luck yet finding the last one

I have previously lived in the UK under the work/holiday visa and I cannot believe how difficult the ancestry is compared to!

I hope someone can help me

Jennyw

The best way you can prove your UK Ancestry is by providing your parents or grandparents full birth and marriage certificates. If you can't provide them, you'll have to explain why you can't provide them, but your application will not be as strong. We would advise that you try everything you can to get your mother's full birth certificate before submitting your application.

As for the processing times, it depends on the post but you can expect an answer within 1 to 2 months.

Goog luck!

VisaWise | Immigration Consultancy
OISC Registered Immigration Advisers
London, United Kingdom

Hi all,

New to the Canuck Abroad forums, I hope it's okay for me to hijack this thread?!

I only just discovered the UK ancestry visa yesterday and am absolutely chuffed! I've been living in France for the last 10 years (but only French work permit, no EU rights) and had started contemplating repatriation but no longer feel like my roots are in the Great White North. I've always wanted to live in the UK and WOW, could it be a real possibility?

Although I don't qualify for citizenship because my parents were never married, my dad and previous generations back to the Huguenots were born in the UK. I have my dad's full birth certificate can request full birth certificates for my grandparents from the Hackney Council.

*but*

As with my parents, my grandparents weren't married - 3 children together, but never married.

One of the supporting documents requested is a marriage certificate, which brings me to my question:

Is it 100% necessary? I can, if needs be, give information (including birth and census info) going back 5 generations. Does that make any difference? Do they care? I fear that, if they're anything like the people who answered my citizenship questions, they won't give a flying whatsit...

I have seen some very knowledgeable answers on here. Can anyone tell me if this is a worthwhile avenue for me to follow or should I not bother without the marriage certs?

Just a thought... on my dad's birth cert, both parents names are listed and my grandmother was listed with my grandfather's surname/formerly "maiden name" if that helps with parentage?

Many thanks for any and all help!!!!!!!