# ILR Ancestry route - Financial requirements?



## bmerry8 (Aug 30, 2013)

Dear All,

I have searched the forums for an answer to my questions and have not found one, so I will start a new thread. However I would like to note that I am new to this forum so if I an repeating questions that have already been asked and answered elsewhere then I apologise. If anybody is able to point me in the right direction or anwer my questions in this thread I will greatly appreciate it. 

Here's my question(s):

I am a British citizen and live in the UK with my Canadian husband (who is Guildenstern on these forums). My husband has been living with me in the UK for 2 years under the youth mobility visa, and he has just been granted a 5 year Ancestry visa. We are now planning our financial strategy for the next five years to make sure that when it comes to applying for his Indefinite Leave to Remain (when the Ancestry visa expires), we will be able to meet all the criteria. If I haven't already made it clear, he will be applying for ILR under the Ancestry category.

We are a little confused about the financial requirements that we will need to meet when he finally applies for ILR, and I thought it might be worth asking for clarification on here so that we don't get any nasty surprises further down the line.

This is what I think the requirements are that we have to meet:

1. My husband has to remain in work, or be actively seeking work, for the duration of the next five years if he is to quialify for ILR

2. There is no set amount of income that he has to show as earnings, he only has to provide evidence that he is in employment when it comes to applying for ILR. This evidence can be a letter from his employer and some recent pay slips or bank statements (eg, 3 month's worth), and a recent tax return for self-employed earnings (He is currently self-employed but intends to supplement this with part-time employment - we do not see this changing much over the 5 years). He will only have to show evidence of employment over the full 5 years in which he was on the Ancestry visa if he is not in employment at the time of applying for ILR.

3. He cannot use public funds for the next 5 years, but I can claim welfare support (e.g. ESA) for my disability without it affecting his eligibility for ILR, as long as I claim in my own right and do not attempt to claim anything for him.

4. When it comes to applying for ILR in 5 year's time, we do not have to show that we are earning, or have been earning, over a certain specific amount for any length of time. We only have to show that he is in employment and/or has sufficient self-employment income to cover his half of our joint living expenses without accessing public funds. The fact that my half of our joint living expenses may be at times partially covered by public funds claimed in my name due to my disability will not have any negative affect on his application.


Does anybody know if I am correct? I know it is 5 years away and I may be a little over-anxious, but I just want to be sure that we have our heads around it so that we don't make any silly mistakes.

Thank you very much in advance for your help. Is there anyone else out there who has been in our situation who could share with us their experience and what documents they provided to meet the financial/employment requirements for ILR that woud be great.

Thanks again!

Beth


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Yes, more or less. There is no financial requirement to meet. Your husband needs to have been in work or seeking work during the last 5 years. You can access public funds, provided you declare your husband to be subject to immigration control with no access to public funds.
Read the following:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/s...rking/outside-pbs/uk-ancestry.pdf?view=Binary esp page 14-16.


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## bmerry8 (Aug 30, 2013)

*Thanks*

Hey Joppa,

Thanks so much for your help, and for replying so quickly to my post - I really appreciate it.

It's great to hear that I more or less have the right idea of how things work. I'll have a look at the link you gave in the morning.

Thanks once again,

B


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