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Tier 2 to Ancestry

Family member & Ancestry immigration; don't post other immigration categories, please!
Marriage | Unmarried Partners | Fiancé | Ancestry

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username002
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South Africa

Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by username002 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:04 pm

Good day,

I am currently working in the UK on a Tier 2 (General) visa, however I'm eligible for an ancestry visa. After a long process I've finally managed to obtain all my documents so am ready to apply.

I understand that I cannot apply for this visa within the UK and will need to apply from South Africa.

Does this mean that when submitting the application online there would be some requirement for me to be based on South Africa when "pressing the button"? Or is being in South Africa for the biometrics/document submission sufficient for this requirement?

Are there any complications that I may be overlooking?

Thank you.

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seagul
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Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by seagul » Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:29 pm

username002 wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:04 pm
Good day,

I am currently working in the UK on a Tier 2 (General) visa, however I'm eligible for an ancestry visa. After a long process I've finally managed to obtain all my documents so am ready to apply.

I understand that I cannot apply for this visa within the UK and will need to apply from South Africa.

Does this mean that when submitting the application online there would be some requirement for me to be based on South Africa when "pressing the button"? Or is being in South Africa for the biometrics/document submission sufficient for this requirement?

Are there any complications that I may be overlooking?

Thank you.
If the rule says that you should switch into Ancestry visa from outside of UK and if you wouldn't comply with that during the whole process then your application might be invalidated with no refund. Also, in that case, even if you would have submitted the application in timely (before tier 2 gets expire), then wouldn't be benefited from section 3C and would be counted as overstayer.
The opinion expressed as above is neither a professional advice nor contesting/competing to other member's opinion/advice.

username002
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Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2018 7:54 am
South Africa

Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by username002 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:39 pm

seagul wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:29 pm
username002 wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:04 pm
Good day,

I am currently working in the UK on a Tier 2 (General) visa, however I'm eligible for an ancestry visa. After a long process I've finally managed to obtain all my documents so am ready to apply.

I understand that I cannot apply for this visa within the UK and will need to apply from South Africa.

Does this mean that when submitting the application online there would be some requirement for me to be based on South Africa when "pressing the button"? Or is being in South Africa for the biometrics/document submission sufficient for this requirement?

Are there any complications that I may be overlooking?

Thank you.
If the rule says that you should switch into Ancestry visa from outside of UK and if you wouldn't comply with that during the whole process then your application might be invalidated with no refund. Also, in that case, even if you would have submitted the application in timely (before tier 2 gets expire), then wouldn't be benefited from section 3C and would be counted as overstayer.
Thank you for the response - with respect to section 3C do you mind clarifying? My Tier 2 visa only expires in 2022.

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seagul
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Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by seagul » Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:45 pm

username002 wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:39 pm
seagul wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:29 pm
username002 wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:04 pm
Good day,

I am currently working in the UK on a Tier 2 (General) visa, however I'm eligible for an ancestry visa. After a long process I've finally managed to obtain all my documents so am ready to apply.

I understand that I cannot apply for this visa within the UK and will need to apply from South Africa.

Does this mean that when submitting the application online there would be some requirement for me to be based on South Africa when "pressing the button"? Or is being in South Africa for the biometrics/document submission sufficient for this requirement?

Are there any complications that I may be overlooking?

Thank you.
If the rule says that you should switch into Ancestry visa from outside of UK and if you wouldn't comply with that during the whole process then your application might be invalidated with no refund. Also, in that case, even if you would have submitted the application in timely (before tier 2 gets expire), then wouldn't be benefited from section 3C and would be counted as overstayer.
Thank you for the response - with respect to section 3C do you mind clarifying? My Tier 2 visa only expires in 2022.
Because of wasn't known about the tier 2 expiry date, therefore had to enlighten on the other possible scenario too which won't be pertinent for you.
The opinion expressed as above is neither a professional advice nor contesting/competing to other member's opinion/advice.

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CR001
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Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by CR001 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:46 pm

Section 3C doesn't apply then if your visa expires in 2022.

Most visa forms now ask for the last 10 year visa history and if you have been to a country. You won't be able to input this if applying in the UK for your current period of residence.

Note also that your clock for ilr will reset to zero when you change to an Ancestry visa and you start the 5 years again from scratch.

Also note that IH is increasing on 27th October to £624 per year, so you would have to pay IHS of £3120 plus the visa fee for a 5 year Ancestry visa.

Do you have dependents in the UK on tier 2 dependent visas? If you do, they also have to change visas to ancestry dependent.

Which parent has the British born grandparent? If your relevant parent British by descent and if so, is it your mother? What year were you born in SA?
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username002
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South Africa

Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by username002 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:02 pm

CR001 wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:46 pm
Section 3C doesn't apply then if your visa expires in 2022.

Most visa forms now ask for the last 10 year visa history and if you have been to a country. You won't be able to input this if applying in the UK for your current period of residence.

Note also that your clock for ilr will reset to zero when you change to an Ancestry visa and you start the 5 years again from scratch.

Also note that IH is increasing on 27th October to £624 per year, so you would have to pay IHS of £3120 plus the visa fee for a 5 year Ancestry visa.

Do you have dependents in the UK on tier 2 dependent visas? If you do, they also have to change visas to ancestry dependent.

Which parent has the British born grandparent? If your relevant parent British by descent and if so, is it your mother? What year were you born in SA?
On the first point the form does ask travel history, however the UK travel section only has inputs for the date in which you arrive and then a period (either total years, months, weeks or days) so seemingly would have allowed to date in advance - however given the above reply that doesn't really matter as they would expect to see travel to South Africa for purposes of the visa application.

Thanks for the note on the ILR and the IHS - am aware of both. Was hoping to submit the application online (within the UK) prior to the 27th and book biometrics at a later date in November for when I am in South Africa but am prepared for the higher fee as it is.

There are no dependents. The parent which has the British born grandparent is my father (his mother) and is not British by descent. I was born in 1991.

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CR001
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Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by CR001 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:41 pm

Your father should look into registering as British on form UKM, born before 1st January 1983 to a British born mother. Costs £80.
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In life you cannot press the Backspace button!!
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username002
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South Africa

Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by username002 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:48 pm

CR001 wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:41 pm
Your father should look into registering as British on form UKM, born before 1st January 1983 to a British born mother. Costs £80.
Is this just a general comment, or does (or would) it have bearing on my situation/visa or passport options?

It is useful as I wasn't aware of this before, but just checking, thanks!

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CR001
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Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by CR001 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 9:00 pm

Won't help you but and you can still follow the Ancestry route if you choose to, but he would be a full British citizen if approved.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... n-form-ukm

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... m-guidance
Char (CR001 not Casa)
In life you cannot press the Backspace button!!
Please DO NOT send me a PM for immigration advice. I reserve the right to ignore the PM and not respond.

username002
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Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by username002 » Sun Dec 06, 2020 6:52 pm

CR001 wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 9:00 pm
Won't help you but and you can still follow the Ancestry route if you choose to, but he would be a full British citizen if approved.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... n-form-ukm

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... m-guidance
Apologies, I have two further questions:

1) The birth certificate of my father does not show the date of birth of my grandmother or grandfather, just "25YRS" being their ages when my father was born. Home Affairs have said they cannot alter it as this is the information they were given at the time of the birth. The full names of my gran match and her age can be worked back - should I mention this on a cover letter to explain? Or is this fairly standard?

2) As I do currently have a Tier 2 (General) visa, I understand there is no impact on this except that it gets cancelled once the ancestry is issued. Is the only impact then that when I re-enter the UK I need to notify my employer of the change? They have said that this is all but I just wanted to triple check.

Thank you again.

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CR001
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Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by CR001 » Sun Dec 06, 2020 7:29 pm

1. No issue.

2. Yes, you are required to inform your employer of your right to work status.
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username002
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Re: Tier 2 to Ancestry

Post by username002 » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:29 am

Great - thanks so much. Appreciate all the input, it truly has helped a huge amount.

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