What about the spouse of UK Ancestry?

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:10 pm

Being a Canadian citizen w/3 grandparents born in Scotland I'm pretty sure I qualify for UK Ancestry. The complication is with my wife. She is a Venezuelan and has not yet being granted entrance to Canada. What would it take for her to accompany me to Britain?

Post by **Lucapooka** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:27 pm

She can apply from VZ or any country she has legal residence.

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/worknonpbs/ukancestry

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:40 pm

What's a VZ? Also, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to gather from that link you gave me.
Also, what happens while we are waiting for this application to be processed? See, the reason I'm doing this is that my country won't even let her in at all until processed, which I suspect will amount to several years. If this country won't let me live with my wife then I want to find one that will. .Uk appears to be one that allows Venezuelans in w/out a visitor visa at least.

Post by **Lucapooka** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:51 pm

It's Venezuela written in a shorthand form. I suggest that you apply for your visa and then, when granted, she can apply for hers from Caracas.

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:54 pm

Ok, thanks. Most importantly, though: will we be able to live anything like a proper husband and wife in the meantime?

Post by **PaperPusher** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:55 pm

She must apply from Venezuela or another country where she has legal residence. She cannot come to the UK as a visitor and apply to change her visa in the UK.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... les/part5/

See the link above for the requirements. Read paragraph 186 onwards.

Read this page too:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... ukancestry

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:27 pm

PaperPusher wrote:She must apply from Venezuela or another country where she has legal residence. She cannot come to the UK as a visitor and apply to change her visa in the UK.

I see. Well, since VZans are allowed into the country for 6 months w/out a visa could she:

Apply for this visa in VZ
Enter as a visitor
If the visa takes longer than 6 months, hop on a bus to, say, France
Come right back again. Goto 3.

Do you know what the processing times are for such visas?

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... les/part5/

See the link above for the requirements. Read paragraph 186 onwards.

186 just talks about me, which I'm pretty sure is settled. 194 talks about her, but 196 makes me wonder just how much prejudice Officers are allowed for refusal. In fact, it would be helpful if I had practical information about just what kind of red tape I could expect or discretionary power can make this whole effort more or less likely.

Read this page too:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... ukancestry

Anything in particular I should be paying attention to, because http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... y#22496703 doesn't seem to have anything I haven't been told yet.

Post by **PaperPusher** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:43 pm

Her passport goes off with the application so unless she has two she will be stuck at home for a few weeks.

Processing times are here:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/processingtimes

One thing for her to remember to provide is evidence of contact between you both or cohabitation, where she will live in the UK, how she will be supported financially at least until you get settled.

Post by **John** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:45 pm

A little problem in your plan ..... she applies for visa in her country, and needs to submit her passport with the application .... so how exactly is she going to enter the UK? Or any other country for that matter?

But the fact is the application for her visa will take nothing like 6 months. Once you have your visa, and then she applies for hers, it will not take very long at all for her visa to be granted.

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:57 pm

A few weeks??? Pffft... That's nothing! You know how long my country is going to make us wait? The current processing time is projected to be 22 months, but I suspect that will rise, pushing us into 2014 or 2015! Currently, the British visa office in Caracas projects that 100% of all visas are processed in 30 days. If we were to get this underway now, she could be home for Christmas!
Thank you so much for help! You can't imagine the stress my country's indifferent cruelty has placed on us

Post by **John** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:58 am

AngusEm, so what are you waiting for? Get on with it, and make your application for an Ancestry visa.

It goes without saying that you need your visa in your passport before your wife can make her dependent's visa application, given the applications are being made in different locations. If you were both applying in the same location, the applications could go in together, but that does not apply to you.

Given an Ancestry visa is a visa to enable you to work in the UK, indeed to get an extension you will need to show you are working, what are your plans about working in the UK? Have you given that aspect any thought?

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 4:24 am

The answer to your first question runs into the last one. It seems that looking for work in Europe is an awful lot more difficult than looking for it in Canada right now, and I'm having a hell of a time w/that here. Furthermore, it seems then when these visas are granted, you only have 3 months to start using them, so I should probably not get this underway until I'm ready to move. So I think I'll wait until the employment differential between the two countries is narrowed.

What's this about an extension though? I thought the UK Ancestry visa is good for 5 years, so it's rather early to be thinking about extending it.

In fact, if I could get any guidance on how to go about bringing my career there, that could be of great benefit. I'm an experienced software engineer.

Post by **John** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 8:52 am

5 years yes, but, from the UK Visas website :-

After five years, you will be able to apply for permanent residence in the UK as long as:
you continue to meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules for United Kingdom Ancestry, and

you have spent five years in employment in the UK in this way, without any long periods of time spent living outside the UK.

So if you want to get ILR near the end of the 5-year period, there is the need to show an employment record.

I'm an experienced software engineer.

Getting a job should not be too difficult, but getting a well-paid job that you like doing might take longer. Of course it might depend upon exactly what technical skills you possess.

Post by **MPH80** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:24 am

John wrote:
I'm an experienced software engineer.
Getting a job should not be too difficult, but getting a well-paid job that you like doing might take longer. Of course it might depend upon exactly what technical skills you possess.

Indeed - I know several companies in the UK who are bringing in outsourcing right now - not because it'll be cheaper - but because they simply cannot hire enough GOOD people quickly enough (and by good they mean people who can think for themselves rather than just code to a full specification/design).

So there is work here for excellent software devs.

M.

Post by **PaperPusher** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:40 am

You will have an advantage, a willingness to relocate. Lots of us are tied to one region because of children and caring for family and so on.

The job market is worse for graduates, young people who have finished education and so on. Not necessarily professionals with experience.

Your wife can work too. When her Canadian visa comes through you could always move back to Canada if you do not like it here.

Even if you cannot get the job you want straight away you could probably walk in to a job that starts the next day if you are willing to do factory work or something similar. If you are not too proud speaking good English will give you an advantage at an agency.

We also have a minimum wage here which doesn't go far in London but is better than nothing.

I think you will be fine.

Post by **John** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 10:46 am

You will have an advantage, a willingness to relocate.

That is a very good point. They could presumably live anywhere in the UK, and not necessarily near relatives presumably still in Scotland.

However it would be good if AngusEm is in good contact with his relatives, other descendants of his Scottish grandparents. They might be able to assist, especially about finding initial accommodation.

Maybe AngusEm and his wife, flying in from their respective countries, could initially have a holiday together in the UK?

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:31 am

Well this is encouraging. I get the feeling that a lot of employers look at me and decide that they can do cheaper, rather than better. Consequently, there are a lot of incompetent people working for Canadian companies. And, no, I'm not limited to geography. I'd prefer to live in Scotland, but I get the feeling that all the high-tech jobs are in England. I'm certainly not fussy, though, since I'm leaving all I know to live w/my wife, which I'll be able to do anywhere in the UK.

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:57 am

For anyone else wanting to do this: I called a British solicitor and he told me that getting a visa for my wife under these circumstances shouldn't be difficult, as long as I can show proof of co-habitation. Of course, there bloody well isn't any because my government won't let her into the damn country!
At first, he made various gestures of despair, but once he calmed down, he told me that if I went the extra mile, which involved hemorrhaging over 1000GBP, there's a very good chance that the visa would be granted. So this is how he envisioned it:

Prove we have a real relationship. This would involve producing photos of the wedding and honeymoon, phone bills, e-mails, a bill for a set of rings totalling about 5000GBP-worth--everything that my Canadian lawyer told me I'd need to show Immigration Canada.
If that fails, then I can appeal to a judge, whom I'm sure I could convince. He said I wouldn't want that, because the appeal could take 10 months, which still beats the pants off what Canada is making us wait!

Post by **Greenie** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:50 am

What is going to cost you Â£1000 -the visa fees or the solicitor's fees?

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:24 pm

I should think the solicitor's, since the only difference will involve a lot more informal documentation in the application.
And it's well over 1000GBP, he said.

Post by **Greenie** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:06 pm

AngusEm wrote:I should think the solicitor's, since the only difference will involve a lot more informal documentation in the application.
And it's well over 1000GBP, he said.

you should be clear on exactly what you are paying for. Â£1000 just in solicitor's fees (not including the cost of the visa application itself) seems quite high. Your application is not that complex.

AngusEm · Post by **AngusEm** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:50 pm

I guess I should ask deeper questions before retaining him. But my Canadian lawyer has asked for much more for her Canadian visa. Although, in that case there were a lot of forms.

Immigrationboards.com: Immigration, work visa and work permit discussion board

What about the spouse of UK Ancestry?

What about the spouse of UK Ancestry?

Employment for a comptuer engineer

It could be sticky if this is the beginning of your marriage