UK Ancestry Visa: Live and Work in Britain on the UK Ancestry Route

If you have a grandparent born in the UK, the UK Ancestry Visa allows you to come to the UK to work or seek work without needing a job offer or sponsor. This is a particularly popular route for Commonwealth nationals. Our Bolton immigration solicitors explain the requirements.

Who is Eligible?

To qualify for the UK Ancestry Visa, you must: be a Commonwealth citizen, be aged 17 or over, be able to work and intend to take or seek employment in the UK, have a grandparent (parent’s parent) born in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, and be able to support yourself and any dependants without recourse to public funds.

How to Prove Ancestry

You will need to provide documentary evidence tracing the line of descent from your UK-born grandparent — typically birth certificates for yourself, your parent and your grandparent. Adoption records and in some cases DNA evidence may be relevant in complex cases.

Duration and Conditions

The visa is granted for 5 years initially. You are free to work in any job (unlike most work visas, there is no skill or salary requirement) and can change employer freely. After 5 years of continuous residence, you can apply for ILR.

Bringing Family Members

Your spouse/civil partner and dependent children can join you in the UK as dependants. Dependant family members have the same rights to work as you.

Common Difficulties

The most common difficulty with Ancestry Visa applications is proving the ancestral link when original documents are unavailable, damaged or in a foreign language. Our solicitors have experience navigating complex genealogical evidence in these applications.