Proving UK ancestry

[OFCHARITY]

A commonwealth citizen believes her grandparent was born in the UK, and wishes to claim uk ancestry. The problem however is that

1. Both her father and grandfather are deceased
2. Both herself and her father were illegitimate, so their fathers names are not listed on their birth certificates as is the norm in their home country, they both however have their fathers surname.

She should be able to request a copy of her grandfather's birth certificate from the UK, but does anyone know whether simply providing the birth certificates with only their surnames in common will be sufficient, is their any other way to prove that you are descended from someone who is now deceased?

[SYH]

DNA

[OFCHARITY]

I know that DNA is probably the most reliable way, but I doubt exhuming the bodies are an option, I was wondering if other records, which list the father's name such as details from a passport application which normally asks for father's name etc. are accepted as proof of ancestry

[Siggi]

As both she and her Father where illegitmate I don't believe she will qualify for Ancestral visa.

They (BIA) do ask to see the marraige certificates of the Grand parents and parents.

[Dawie]

The only acceptable evidence for proving your ancestry are birth certificates listing BOTH parents and marriage certificates proving your link to your grandparent. If the birth certificates do not list parents then you are out of luck as there is no way to prove the link.

[JAJ]

As both she and her Father where illegitmate I don't believe she will qualify for Ancestral visa.

afaik legitimacy is not a problem for Ancestral Visa provided the relationship can be proven.

[Siggi]

JAJ
You are wrong and if it is no problem, I would like to see you prove the relationship, it both the Grandparent and she are illegitmate.
Sorry this will not succeed.

[Dawie]

JAJ
You are wrong and if it is no problem, I would like to see you prove the relationship, it both the Grandparent and she are illegitmate.
Sorry this will not succeed.

The guidance notes do not mention anything about legitimacy regarding ancestry visas, so I do not think this will be an issue. The issue is clearly that if there are parents missing from birth certificates then no clear lineage can be established between the applicant and the British-born grandparent.

Just having the same surname as your grandparent is obviously not enough!

[RobinLondon]

JAJ
You are wrong and if it is no problem, I would like to see you prove the relationship, it both the Grandparent and she are illegitmate.
Sorry this will not succeed.

Why does everyone have to be so strident about everything? Sheesh.

According to page 5 on the IDI on UK Ancestry, a qualifying connection can be made through either a legitimate or illegitimate line. It's true that without marriage certificates, it will be harder to do. But if an applicant made a genuine, strong argument using school and church records, affidavits from pillars of the community, tax statements and other legal documents, s/he might have a chance. But it would have to be airtight. And they would probably need a good lawyer too. I do agree with both Siggi and Dawie that it will be extremely difficult without even the fathers' names on the birth certificates. There remains, however, a very small chance of a successful application if this person can overcome a significant burden of proof.

If it's the case, however, of the grandfather making a baby and then taking off and then his son turning around and doing the same thing, then I think, "Yeah, fuggedaboutit." In such a case, there's no supporting evidence apart from the same last name, which by itself means diddlysquat.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... iew=Binary

[Siggi]

Rob,
Thank you for your sensible comments and putting the right spin on this issuse.
But in the real world, the chances of success in this case is extremely doubtful.
I'm very suprise to see that bit you added which says, legitmate or illegitmate line- interesting!

[VictoriaS]

Rob is absolutely right, no legitimacy needed. The only documents which are usually needed are:

Birth certificate of grandparent
Birth certificate of parent, with name of UK born grandparent on it
Applicant's birth certificate, with name of relevant parent

If the applicant can trace ancestry through her father, but her father isn't named on the birth certificate, then there are massive problems. The other documents mentioned may assist, but I think there is a big risk of refusal.

Victoria

[OFCHARITY]

Thanks for all you comments, I agree it's probably not going to work, her father was a beneficiary of his father's will, I need to check with her whether he was specifically named in the will as his child or just benefited as "all my children". I think that that would be strong evidence of their relationship, but then again the immigration officials may not be willing to accept any alternate evidence. I will try to keep the board posted if anything comes of it.