JSA - Ancestry Visa

The UK Ancestry visa service (also known as a British Ancestry visa) is a UK visa, which allows a Commonwealth citizen to live and work in the UK on the basis of their ancestral ties to the United Kingdom.

Applicants for this type of family immigration must have a grandparent who was born in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man. Applications from candidates with a grandparent who was born in the Republic of Ireland before March 1922 will also be valid. Applications may be considered valid based upon the British birth of any one of your four grandparents, alive or deceased.

If either you or one of your parents is adopted, you may still be eligible to apply for a family visa of this type. In these circumstances, you must be able to demonstrate reasonable proof of your adoption.

Applicants coming to live and work in the UK under this route must intend to seek and undertake employment in order to support themselves and any dependents once in the United Kingdom. People on British Ancestry visas must be able to support and accommodate themselves without recourse to public funds.

Benefits to the Ancestry Visa include:

Since the application is based upon familial ties to the United Kingdom no points based skills assessment is required
Candidates do not need to create jobs or invest in the United Kingdom
No restrictions whatsoever are imposed upon the types of employment that a permit holder may seek or undertake once they are in Britain
Complete and free access to the domestic employment market
The ancestral visa is granted for five years after which applicants may apply for permanent resident status.

Duration

This family history immigration visa is initially issued for five years. After this time people on ancestry visas can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK (ILR), often referred to as permanent residency, so long as they have spent 5 years continuously in the country and have either current employment or can demonstrate the intention and ability to seek employment.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility for ancestry immigration of this kind is assessed against the following criteria:

Applicants must be aged 17 years or over
Applicants must currently be Commonwealth citizens.

Relationships

Spouse immigration and dependent immigration are permitted under this permanent immigration route. Your spouse or unmarried partner will be eligible to apply for an Ancestry Dependency visa. As with a marriage visa, fiancé visa or De facto visa, often known as an unmarried partner visa, immigration of your dependents will be in line with the permanent nature of the ancestry-based visa.

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