A few questions regarding SET(O) Ancestry---filling out the form

[Kristen Lee]

My husband and I have both passed the Life in the UK Test so we are ready to fill out our paperwork for ILR (including our baby daughter). We will be using the Express Service.

There are a few questions I have about the form, as I want to make sure we have all the correct info on the day!

Question 7.13--asks how long we have lived in the UK for. In total it is 11 years---5.5 years from 2004-2009, and then we had 2.5 years back in Australia, and then another 5.5 years from 2012-present. We are applying because we qualify for the 2nd stint (5 years continuous living in the UK) however it seems strange to not include the initial stay even though that's not what we are applying under. The next part of that question then asks about absences of over 6 months, which we would then have to include. So my question is---do we answer 5.5 years or 11? I am basing this on Section 6's Questions 6.1 and 6.2 asking specifically only about the period of which the application is based, whereas Section 7 is asking for total stay?

-Question 7.14 asks about social, cultural or family ties and it says ''tell us about any....'', is it enough to just write 'family' or does it have to be more specific---which family, etc.

-Evidence of Finances---how far back should statements go? Is 3 months enough? Also, we have a savings account that belongs to both my partner and I however it is only his name on the account. We put money in there from our joint account monthly. I would like to be able to include statements from that account, but not sure if I can (our joint one is fine as we just co-sign, but the savings one I feel like I would have to sign the bit saying he is 'supporting me financially' but that's not the case. I guess if we are doing the Express service, I can bring it, and ask them on the day?

-12H UK Ancestry section asks for documents showing we are able to work and intend to take/seek employment. As we have been living here for 5.5 years as PAYE or self-employed, would we just include payslips and company accounts as proof we are working and assumedly plan to continue to work?

-Am I correct that when it comes to documents, it is asking us to provide not just originals but copies of all of them, including photocopies of every passport page that has relevant info (stamps and info pages)?

I think that's it!

Thanks all!

[CR001]

Question 7.13--asks how long we have lived in the UK for. In total it is 11 years---5.5 years from 2004-2009, and then we had 2.5 years back in Australia, and then another 5.5 years from 2012-present. We are applying because we qualify for the 2nd stint (5 years continuous living in the UK) however it seems strange to not include the initial stay even though that's not what we are applying under. The next part of that question then asks about absences of over 6 months, which we would then have to include. So my question is---do we answer 5.5 years or 11? I am basing this on Section 6's Questions 6.1 and 6.2 asking specifically only about the period of which the application is based, whereas Section 7 is asking for total stay?

The 5.5. years on your most recent visa. How come you have a '5.5 year' ancestry visa?? They are only issued for 5 years.

-Question 7.14 asks about social, cultural or family ties and it says ''tell us about any....'', is it enough to just write 'family' or does it have to be more specific---which family, etc.

Family is fine, but elaborate a bit more on direct family members, i.e. mother/father/siblings.

-Evidence of Finances---how far back should statements go? Is 3 months enough? Also, we have a savings account that belongs to both my partner and I however it is only his name on the account. We put money in there from our joint account monthly. I would like to be able to include statements from that account, but not sure if I can (our joint one is fine as we just co-sign, but the savings one I feel like I would have to sign the bit saying he is 'supporting me financially' but that's not the case. I guess if we are doing the Express service, I can bring it, and ask them on the day?

6 months. It is 'premium service' not 'express service' and it is not an interview.

-12H UK Ancestry section asks for documents showing we are able to work and intend to take/seek employment. As we have been living here for 5.5 years as PAYE or self-employed, would we just include payslips and company accounts as proof we are working and assumedly plan to continue to work?

Correct.

-Am I correct that when it comes to documents, it is asking us to provide not just originals but copies of all of them, including photocopies of every passport page that has relevant info (stamps and info pages)?

Yes.

See lengthy link below on ancestry to ILR questions and success.

indefinite-leave-to-remain/ancestry-vis ... 84361.html

[Kristen Lee]

Fantastic, thank-you! I used the premium service for my daughter's Ancestry by Descent, and I do recall quickly clarifying with them about some of the paperwork, thus asking about the bank statement. Not so much interview, but just when they flicked through to check everything was there. What do you think about using the Savings Account statement, even though my name isn't on it?

The reason we have been here 5.5 years on this stint is because we extended the visa during this stay and it was re-issued for a further 5 years.

I'll check out the link. Thanks so much!

[CR001]

You can add the bank statement if you wish but there is no requirement to prove your savings for ILR. You simply need to proved your employment.

Where was your daugther born, UK or abroad and when was she born?

[Kristen Lee]

Ok great, I thought it said if we have to Complete Section 5, that evidence of finances was required?

Do you know if the forms changed from the 04/2017 version to now? That's the one I am currently filling out.

Our daughter was born in the UK March 2016 but from what we understand she is not eligible for British citizenship as both parents are Australian citizens on Ancestry visas, so she has to be our dependent on whatever visa we have. She is currently on 'Dependent Leave to Remain', so we assume she will also need to get ILR Dependent, as her visa ends when ours does. Have we assumed correctly?

[CR001]

Do you know if the forms changed from the 04/2017 version to now? That's the one I am currently filling out.

Set(O) changed in October last year and a couple of days ago for online applications.

Our daughter was born in the UK March 2016 but from what we understand she is not eligible for British citizenship as both parents are Australian citizens on Ancestry visas, so she has to be our dependent on whatever visa we have. She is currently on 'Dependent Leave to Remain', so we assume she will also need to get ILR Dependent, as her visa ends when ours does. Have we assumed correctly?

If you plan on registering her as British, she DOES NOT need apply for ILR. Once you are granted ILR you can registerher as British on form MN1 under Sectin 1(3) of the nationality act, which is an entitlement to register as British as she was born in the UK. She also did not require a visa if you had no plans to travel out of the UK.

[Kristen Lee]

I didn't realise you could apply online---can I still use the premium service for online applications?

I had no idea about our daughter! That is fantastic! Thank-you! That saves us so much time (and money!). I thought I had researched it thoroughly but obviously not! So once we are granted ILR, we can simply register her as British because she was born here---does that mean she is considered a citizen after that?

Unfortunately we do travel a lot so we did need to get her the visa, we did a trip back to Australia with her so didn't want to run the risk

[CR001]

I didn't realise you could apply online---can I still use the premium service for online applications?

I would imagine you can. It is a new service that only came into effect a week or so ago.

I had no idea about our daughter! That is fantastic! Thank-you! That saves us so much time (and money!). I thought I had researched it thoroughly but obviously not! So once we are granted ILR, we can simply register her as British because she was born here---does that mean she is considered a citizen after that?

Yes, she will be considered British otherwise than by descent, ie. can be passed onto her children if born anywhere in the world. See Citizenship FAQs (click) and you can apply for citizenship and passport in the joint application scheme through NCS at the council.

[Kristen Lee]

Hi again,

From reading a few more threads, the online application is just filling it out online and printing it as opposed to actually APPLYING online, is that right? I tried to find where one would apply online (as in the latter) but I couldn't see anything. Do you have a link? In any case, I'll make sure I have the most recent one, so thank-you.

In regards to the MN1 form, I took a look at it and it seemed quite confusing, however I did read the guidance notes, but just to confirm:
A) There was no payment form attached, so how do you know how much it costs? Do we use this form? https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... t_2017.pdf
B) We do not have to fill in Section 2 as she was born in the UK.
C) We do not have to fill in Section 3 as she was born in the UK.

Is it possible to use a premium service for this one as well? From reading other threads, timeframes have said it could take 3-6 months but we really can't have her unable to travel for that long. It does look like if we use the NCS service, they can certify docs so we can keep originals (so I assume this means passport too), which means we may get away with traveling within Europe with her (we did that once when she was 6 months old by accident before we realised we needed to get her a visa too). But if we can use a premium service, that would be preferable.

Thanks again!

[Kristen Lee]

Ah, looks like it's not possible for registering as a British Citizen. Sounds like the NCS option may be best so we can apply for the passport at the same time.

Can't believe the wait time and the price! I swear her Oz citizenship was almost granted on the day and she'd never even been there

[CR001]

In regards to the MN1 form, I took a look at it and it seemed quite confusing, however I did read the guidance notes, but just to confirm:
A) There was no payment form attached, so how do you know how much it costs? Do we use this form? https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... t_2017.pdf

Yes. You will also need the separate fee leaflet you get with the passport application if you are applying for both at the same time.

B) We do not have to fill in Section 2 as she was born in the UK.

Yes.

C) We do not have to fill in Section 3 as she was born in the UK.

No.

Is it possible to use a premium service for this one as well? From reading other threads, timeframes have said it could take 3-6 months but we really can't have her unable to travel for that long. It does look like if we use the NCS service, they can certify docs so we can keep originals (so I assume this means passport too), which means we may get away with traveling within Europe with her (we did that once when she was 6 months old by accident before we realised we needed to get her a visa too). But if we can use a premium service, that would be preferable.

As you found out, no premium service for citizenship applications. NCS give you all your originals back so yes you will be able to travel.

From reading a few more threads, the online application is just filling it out online and printing it as opposed to actually APPLYING online, is that right? I tried to find where one would apply online (as in the latter) but I couldn't see anything. Do you have a link? In any case, I'll make sure I have the most recent one, so thank-you.

Yes, it is only completing the form and not actually applying. Remember, we cannot see the online form so any questions you ask will take a while for an answer as we base our responses on the paper forms, which are different to the online ones. The link I provided in my first response to your post is based on the paper form.

[Kristen Lee]

Fantastic, thanks so much for your help.

[Kristen Lee]

Me again!

Just when I think I have a handle on it!

I decided to give filling out the online form a go, and I know you have said you don't have access to the online form however it made me realise that perhaps I misunderstood the paper form too.

Section 6 asks about our Immigration history and I thought it wanted to know about any time we left the UK. It uses the word absence so I took that to mean any little holiday, etc. However with the online form, if you say Yes to that question it immediately asks you to provide evidence as per 6.3 on the paper form and there is not an option to not pick anything. So I am a bit confused. In the paper form, I thought that you only needed to fill out 6.3 if you were a Tier applicant or had been gone for longer than the 180 days consecutively?

However it is asking to provide 'evidence' for the reasons of absence. If it's just a holiday, what kind of 'evidence' can you provide for that?

[Kristen Lee]

I guess my question is:

If I fill out the paper form instead, does 6.2 apply to us and does it mean any holiday? And does 6.3 apply to us too, whereby we have to provide 'evidence' for 6.2? It seems like the evidence is only really applying to Tier applicants?

Can you also confirm how many days we are allowed to have been outside the UK in the 5 years? We haven't been away for longer than 1 month consecutively and no more than 63 in one year, however the total amount for 5 years is about 214 days as I travel a lot playing sport. Is this when I would have to provide evidence, if I have indeed gone over?

[CR001]

You need to list all your absences, however small.

No evidence required.

Your absence is well below the permitted allowance of 180 per rolling 12 month period.

[Kristen Lee]

Thanks, I think I might fill in the paper form after all then, as the online one seems a bit confusing since it doesn't allow you to NOT answer 6.3, whereas the paper one is clearer as to what needs to be filled out.

Annoying, as the online one does seem to automatically leave out all of the Tier related questions in Section 9 that the paper form has because I chose 'Ancestry' as the category, so it's strange that it's not really compatible. Oh well, guess I'm printing out all 86 pages!

Thanks again for your help. Fingers crossed we've got it all worked out now!

[Kristen Lee]

Am I able to use a certified copy of my Mother's birth certificate as documentation or does it have to be an original only?

It's an Australian birth certificate photo copy that has a stamp saying: ''I certify that this is a true copy of the original certificate document'' and is legally signed and stamped by someone who has the authority to do so.

[CR001]

Kindly keep all your questions on the same application in one topic (this one now merged with your birth cert question).

Should be original.

[Kristen Lee]

My apologies, I had issues finding my original post.

Interestingly we have just filled out the January 2018 SET(O) forms and there are a few major omissions compared to previous versions of the form:

-In Section 12 with the Documents, it no longer says you need to provide photocopies documents/passport pages, etc.

-Section 12 Documents in regards to Ancestry no longer asks for proof of your UK grandparent?! It only asks for proof that you plan to work/continue work in the UK. Does this mean that their systems essentially have that info already due to having a BRP?

[Kristen Lee]

Hiya,

Just seeking confirmation on my previous post about the January 2018 SET(O) form no longer asking for documents proving the Ancestry link? I couldn't see it in the new forms at all, but I don't want to be caught out. Same with it not mentioning making photocopies of documents. Do you think it's best to provide those regardless?

Cheers again! All booked for our premium appointment March 3rd---got in by the skin of our teeth as I didn't realise appointments were booked so far in advance (I swear I looked at dates a month or so back and we could book earlier) and the date we got is literally the day before our current leave expires

[CR001]

If not asked for them likely not required.

I would suggest you carry the evidence with you as if they do ask for it and you don't have it, your application will be delayed and become a postal one.

Always better to go prepared.

[Kristen Lee]

Sounds good, will do. I'll get my mum to post the correct version of her birth certificate this time

[Kristen Lee]

Our appointment is this weekend and I have one final question!
Section 13 is the verification checks for bank accounts, utilities, etc. I have provided bank statements from my husband and my joint account (he is actually applying at the same time time as me too), as well as a savings account that we put money into from our joint account but doesn't have our name on it--an annoying quirk or options with our bank unfortunately). Do I need him to sign the second page of Section 13, or is that only for if you have stated that someone is 'supporting you financially' as mentioned earlier in the application, but doesn't include if you have generally joint earnings as a married couple?

Thanks again! Thank goodness this is nearly over!

[CR001]

You need to sign it for any documents that are in joint names or the other applicants name.

[Kristen Lee]

Ok perfect. Thanks!