UK Ancestry visa

Overview

A UK Ancestry visa gives you permission to stay for 5 years. During that time you can work in almost any job: employed or self-employed, full-time or part-time, paid or voluntary. You can also study. There is no minimum salary and no list of approved jobs.

You cannot claim most public funds, such as benefits and housing help, and you must intend to work while you are here. After 5 years you can apply to settle, or extend for another 5 years.

Two recent changes are worth knowing. Your permission is now an eVisa, a digital record that you view and share through your UKVI account, not a stamp or a card. And if you apply to settle on or after 26 March 2027, the English level for settlement rises from B1 to B2.

Who can apply

You can apply if you are a Commonwealth citizen aged 17 or over and one of your four grandparents was born in the UK. British overseas citizens, British overseas territories citizens and British nationals (overseas) can also use the route, and so can citizens of Zimbabwe. The route suits, for example:

• a Canadian whose grandmother was born in Glasgow and who wants to move to London with her family;
• a South African whose grandfather was born in Cork in 1915;
• an Australian who was adopted, where the adoptive father's mother was born in Cardiff.

The route is not for people whose family link is through a step-parent or only through a great-grandparent. If one of your parents was born in the UK, check first whether you are already a British citizen or have the right of abode, because you may not need a visa at all.

Requirements

• Commonwealth citizenship: you must hold it when you apply, and still hold it when you later apply to settle.
• Age: you must be 17 or over on the date you plan to arrive.
• A grandparent born in the UK: in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man; in what is now the Republic of Ireland before 31 March 1922; or on a ship or aircraft registered in the UK or belonging to the UK government.
• Able and planning to work: you must show that you can work and intend to look for and take work in the UK.
• Money to support yourself: you must be able to support and house yourself and any family without public funds.
• Tuberculosis test: needed if you have been living in a country on the Home Office tuberculosis list.
• Suitability: a serious criminal record, past immigration breaches or false information can lead to refusal.

Proving your ancestry

The heart of the application is the paper trail from you to your grandparent: your full birth certificate, the full birth certificate of the parent through whom you claim, and your grandparent's full birth certificate. Where names changed, you also need the marriage certificates or deed poll that connect the records. If you or your parent were adopted, you need the legal adoption papers.

Old records cause most delays. A grandmother born in 1930s Liverpool may appear with a different spelling of the family name on later documents, and the application should explain why.

Work plans and funds

A job offer helps but is not required. Evidence of your plans can be a CV and job applications, a letter from a UK employer, or a business plan if you will be self-employed.

The rules set no fixed savings figure. The Home Office looks at your money, your likely costs and how soon you are likely to find work. Bank statements must be dated within 31 days of your application, and a credible promise of support from family in the UK can also count. A nurse who has started her UK registration and has three months' living costs saved presents a much clearer case than someone with a small balance and no plan.

How to apply

1. Gather the birth, marriage and adoption certificates that link you to your grandparent, with certified translations of anything not in English.
2. Collect evidence of your work plans and recent bank statements, and book a tuberculosis test if you need one.
3. Apply online from outside the UK, no earlier than 3 months before you plan to travel, and pay the fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge.
4. Attend a visa application centre to prove your identity and give your fingerprints and photograph. Upload your documents or have them scanned there.
5. Your partner and children make their own linked applications, at the same time or later.
6. Wait for the decision by email. If you are granted, you receive an eVisa, which you view in your UKVI account and share with employers and landlords.

Costs

Each person pays a Home Office application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is paid up front for the full 5 years. The current figures are shown on this page, in our visa cost calculator and on our UK visa fees page.

Other costs to plan for are priority services where offered, the tuberculosis test, ordering certified copies of old certificates, translations, and later an English test and the Life in the UK test when you apply to settle.

Processing times

From outside the UK, the Home Office usually decides within 3 weeks of your appointment at the visa application centre. Many centres offer a paid priority service for a faster decision. Extensions made in the UK usually take up to 8 weeks, and settlement applications up to 6 months, with priority options available. A case can take longer if the Home Office needs to check documents or interview you.

Partners and children

Your partner can come with you if you are married or in a civil partnership, have lived together for at least 2 years, or have been in a relationship for at least 2 years where you could not live together but can show ongoing commitment.

Your children can come if they are under 18, or over 18 if they already hold permission as your dependant. They must live with you (unless away at boarding school or university) and must not be married or have children of their own. Family members can work and study, and their permission usually ends on the same date as yours.

A partner or child already in the UK on another visa can usually switch to become your dependant, but not from some categories, such as visitor or short-term study visas. A child born in the UK while you hold this visa is not automatically British, so you need to apply for their permission.

Extending your stay and settlement

You can extend for a further 5 years, as many times as you need, if you still meet the requirements. Apply before your visa expires, and stay in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you have a decision.

After 5 continuous years you can apply for indefinite leave to remain, from 28 days before the 5 years are up. You must:

• still be a Commonwealth citizen, able to work and planning to work, and able to support your family without public funds;
• have spent no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period;
• show English at B1 in speaking and listening (B2 for applications on or after 26 March 2027), unless you are exempt, for example as a national of a listed English-speaking country or the holder of a degree taught in English;
• pass the Life in the UK test if you are 18 to 64.

Your partner can usually settle at the same time as you even if they joined you later, provided they meet the English and Life in the UK requirements. See our indefinite leave to remain page.

Once you have held indefinite leave for 12 months you can normally apply for British citizenship. The Government has consulted on making most people wait longer to settle ("earned settlement"), but this has not been brought into the rules: today, UK Ancestry settlement is after 5 years.

How we can help

We check your eligibility and your family records, tell you which certificates are missing and where to get them, and give you a document list for each family member. We review everything before it is submitted.

We prepare the application and a covering letter that sets out the line of descent and deals with gaps, such as name changes, adoptions or unusual places of birth. If the Home Office asks for more information, we deal with it, and if you are refused we advise on administrative review or a fresh application.

To discuss your case, book a consultation or contact us.

Frequently asked questions

Does the grandparent have to be on my father's side?

No. Any of your four grandparents can count, on either side of the family. It also does not matter whether your parents or grandparents were married. You cannot, however, claim through a step-parent.

Do I need a job offer before I apply?

No. You need to show that you can work and genuinely intend to look for work. A job offer is good evidence, but it is not required.

I am already in the UK on another visa. Can I switch?

No. You must apply for your first UK Ancestry visa from outside the UK. Someone here on a Youth Mobility Scheme visa, for example, has to leave and apply from abroad, so plan your travel around the decision time.

Can I bring my parents with me?

Not on this route. Once you are settled or British, the adult dependent relative route may be possible, but its requirements are very strict. See our page on children, elderly relatives and family reunions.

Will I need an English test to settle?

Not if you are a national of a listed English-speaking country, such as Australia, Canada or New Zealand, or have a degree taught in English. Others, including South African nationals without such a degree, usually need an approved test at B1, or B2 from 26 March 2027.