Citizenship Areas
Advice for eligible applicants with qualifying ancestry who want to live and work in the UK.
We assess your nationality and family connection, including whether your grandparent’s birthplace qualifies under the route.
We review your ability and intention to work, support arrangements and immigration history before recommending an application.
UK Ancestry is available to eligible Commonwealth citizens and certain other qualifying nationality categories. A qualifying grandparent connection is essential; ancestry does not by itself establish British citizenship or a right of abode.
We review the family history and any adoption or other circumstances affecting the connection, including the special provisions for certain historical birthplaces.
We guide your application from the initial ancestry assessment through to a decision and future planning.
Review nationality, the family connection, your circumstances and intended move.
Advise on the supporting information and address issues in the family history or earlier immigration record.
Prepare and submit the appropriate application and assist with the relevant identity process.
Explain the outcome, permission and conditions, and plan any related family applications.
An initial application as the person with UK Ancestry is made from outside the UK. This is not an ordinary in-country switching route from another visa. We assess the appropriate application location and timing.
The route permits employment and self-employment without employer sponsorship. We can advise on how your intended work fits your immigration position.
We explain the conditions attached to your grant, including restrictions on public funds, and review changes affecting future applications. A change of employer does not require a new employer-sponsored visa under this route.
An eligible partner may apply as your dependant. We assess the relationship, existing status and appropriate application arrangements.
Eligible dependent children may apply with you or join later. We review each child’s circumstances, including older children with existing dependant permission.
Each family member requires an application and their own eligibility assessment. We coordinate applications and review how permission dates align.
Applications from within the UK depend on the family member’s existing status. A child born in the UK does not automatically become British; we assess the appropriate immigration or nationality application separately.
UK Ancestry permission is normally granted for five years. An eligible applicant can seek a further five-year extension if settlement is not being pursued and the relevant conditions remain satisfied.
We assist with extension applications, including FLR(IR) where appropriate, and review changes to your work, support arrangements or personal circumstances.
Extending your own permission does not automatically extend your partner’s or children’s visas. We review each person’s expiry date and coordinate the relevant applications.
We assess extension and settlement options before the current permission expires, taking account of travel and any pending applications.
The principal applicant may qualify for indefinite leave to remain after five years of qualifying residence on the UK Ancestry route, subject to the relevant conditions.
We assess residence and absences, continuing eligibility and suitability, together with the applicable English language and Life in the UK provisions. We assist with SET(O) applications where appropriate.
Eligible partners and children may also qualify for settlement. Their position must be assessed under the specific dependant provisions rather than assuming the principal applicant’s residence conditions apply identically to them. We also review options where the principal applicant has already settled or become British.
Settlement does not automatically confer citizenship. We assess naturalisation or child registration separately, including the relevant nationality, residence and status conditions.