Deonv wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:34 pm
Ok, here are the details:
Born: 1976 in South Africa, currently in the UK on Ancestral Visa (since Jan 2018).
Family: Wife + 3 kids (all younger than 16), dependants on my ancestral visa.
Just putting this out there so you can weigh up your options etc.
If you apply for UKM and become British, your dependents cannot continue as Ancestral dependents. They will all have to switch to FLR(M) visa route, which is 2 x 2.5 year visas before they can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). Your spouse will need to meet the English requirement. You/spouse will need to meet the financial requirement of £27,200 pa for each stage, 1st FLR(M), 2nd FLR(M) and ILR.
The visa fee for FLR(M) is currently £1033 each. You will also have to pay IHS again, which is increasing in October to £625 per year for spouse and £470 per year for children, so £1562 for spouse and £1175 for each child under 18 and that is only for the first 2.5 year FLR(M) visa. All this is payable again (whatever the fees are at that time) for the 2nd visa extension in 2.5 years after the first.
Their clock for ILR will also reset to zero and they will have to start a new 5 year period before they qualify for ILR. The time spent on Ancestral dependent visas won't count towards the 5 year residence for ILR.