# Ancestry Visa employment



## laiguk (Nov 25, 2012)

If you get an Ancestry Visa, do you have to be employed continuously for the 5 years even if you have income derived from investments in UK? Can you work on a temporary basis or part time?


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## BailyBanksBiddle (Feb 8, 2012)

laiguk said:


> If you get an Ancestry Visa, do you have to be employed continuously for the 5 years even if you have income derived from investments in UK? Can you work on a temporary basis or part time?


Check out this hyperlink

UK Border Agency | UK ancestry

It says down below:

You can apply to come to the UK in this category if you can show that:

you are a Commonwealth citizen;
you are aged 17 or over;
you are able to work and you plan to work in the UK; and
you can adequately support and accommodate yourself and your dependants without help from public funds - the Rights and responsibilities section explains what public funds are.

"If you have lived and worked continuously in the UK for 5 years in this category, and if you still meet the UK ancestry requirements (see above), you can apply to settle here permanently. (This is called 'indefinite leave to remain'.) "

Under the rights and responsibilities, they ask that you have enough not to go on public funds. But they don't spell out whether it's okay if you have stacks of money coming in from your investments that enable you to live comfortably here without going on public funds. It seems to me that it would be acceptable, but you might ring them to clarify.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

BailyBanksBiddle said:


> Under the rights and responsibilities, they ask that you have enough not to go on public funds. But they don't spell out whether it's okay if you have stacks of money coming in from your investments that enable you to live comfortably here without going on public funds. It seems to me that it would be acceptable, but you might ring them to clarify.


No, it's not enough. You must be in employment or self-employment, and if there are periods of unemployment, whether serious attempt has been made to seek work. Being self-sufficient and relying on investment isn't enough to gain settlement. After all, ancestry visa is an employment visa, not for those of independent means.

_This page explains what evidence you need when considering the *employment requirement* for a person applying for indefinite leave (settlement) in the UK ancestry category.
A person with leave under UK ancestry is not required to be continuously employed while in the UK. The requirement is that they *stay employed or seek further work*.
Applicant employed at date of application
If the applicant is in employment, you can accept one of the following as evidence of that:
 A letter from their current employer confirming that they will continue in their current job with that employer.
 Evidence that they are employed, such as recent wage slips.
You can accept one of the following as evidence that the applicant is self-employed:
 business and/or company accounts
 official letter from a registered accountant confirming self-employment
 official tax documentation.
This is not an exhaustive list. For examples of other kinds of documentation a self-employed applicant should be able to produce, see related link: Sponsor applications appendix A – List of documents, which includes self-employed people in group 6. If the applicant provides other documentation as evidence that they are self-employed and running their own business but you are not sure if you can accept it, then you must speak to your line manager.
Applicant unemployed at date of application
If the applicant is unemployed, you must ask for evidence of their employment record throughout their five years in this category and of any attempts they have made to find work. You may grant the application if there is evidence that the applicant has been genuinely looking for work. In this section Indefinite leave qualifying period Links to staff intranet removed
This guidance is based on the Immigration Rules.
Page 24 of 33 Guidance – UK ancestry v9.0 valid from 1 October 2012
If it is clear that the applicant has not been employed for long periods over the five years, they must give reasons why they have failed to find work and evidence that they have been looking for it. They must also give evidence of how they have been supporting themselves without a regular income. If you are not sure whether the periods of unemployment are long enough to need this evidence, ask your senior caseworker or line manager. In considering this caseworkers and managers will need to consider:
 the amount earned during any periods of employment, and
 whether this has continued to maintain the applicant during periods of unemployment.
You must *refuse the application *under paragraph 193 of the Immigration Rules with reference to 192(i) and 186(iv) *on the basis that they do not intend to take or seek employment if:
 there is no good reason for their failure to obtain work, and
 the evidence suggests that they have not been seeking and do not intend to seek work.*_

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/s...rking/outside-pbs/uk-ancestry.pdf?view=Binary page 23 and 24.

Having independent source of income such as investment is a factor, but you still have to show evidence of trying to find work. This can be applying for jobs, starting self-employment etc.


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## laiguk (Nov 25, 2012)

BailyBanksBiddle said:


> Check out this hyperlink
> 
> UK Border Agency | UK ancestry
> 
> ...


thanks for coming back to me, think I will be alright, we own a house there (accommodation) my OH is retired and we have a joint bank account, still actually submitting tax forms, have income from UK investments and I have no intention of going onto benefits, never have in my life, and still paying voluntary NI but am only 57 when intend to go there and have to wait until 66 now before I can "officially" retire so thought I could do temp work or part time work. Thought that maybe this route would be better than to apply as a spouse. So if I can show them all this I should get ILR again!


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## laiguk (Nov 25, 2012)

Thanks Joppa;968477
That puts a different slant on it because I may not work continuously and 5 years is a long time. Maybe I have to bite the bullet and go back the Spouse Route, it is the same length of time and I do not have to work if I don't want to? As I said in another post I was going to go Returning Resident but as you have kindly pointed out, if refused it will go against me if I apply as spouse. I just wish you could make appointment with the border agency to discuss the options opened to me!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

laiguk said:


> Thanks Joppa;968477
> That puts a different slant on it because I may not work continuously and 5 years is a long time. Maybe I have to bite the bullet and go back the Spouse Route, it is the same length of time and I do not have to work if I don't want to? As I said in another post I was going to go Returning Resident but as you have kindly pointed out, if refused it will go against me if I apply as spouse. I just wish you could make appointment with the border agency to discuss the options opened to me!


It seems applying for spouse visa, if you meet financial requirement through savings as you claim, will probably be the safest bet. There are too many uncertainties surrounding other options. UKBA don't give detailed advice as they know personal circumstances are complicated and they can only give a full answer after you submit your application and they have had a chance to look at all the details. You can get advice from a UK-based immigration advisor, and if you just go for an initial assessment and not buy in their whole service package, it shouldn't cost too much. Whether their advice is any better than you can get here is a moot point, judging by some poor service people have received!

Alternative is to go for a returning resident visa and really give a good shot at convincing them of a strong tie. Even if you are turned down, it should not materially affect your subsequent spouse visa application, as it is a default option - if you cannot get ILE visa, you go for LTE (leave to enter) visa.


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## laiguk (Nov 25, 2012)

Joppa said:


> It seems applying for spouse visa, if you meet financial requirement through savings as you claim, will probably be the safest bet. There are too many uncertainties surrounding other options. UKBA don't give detailed advice as they know personal circumstances are complicated and they can only give a full answer after you submit your application and they have had a chance to look at all the details. You can get advice from a UK-based immigration advisor, and if you just go for an initial assessment and not buy in their whole service package, it shouldn't cost too much. Whether their advice is any better than you can get here is a moot point, judging by some poor service people have received!
> 
> Alternative is to go for a returning resident visa and really give a good shot at convincing them of a strong tie. Even if you are turned down, it should not materially affect your subsequent spouse visa application, as it is a default option - if you cannot get ILE visa, you go for LTE (leave to enter) visa.


Thanks I have a couple of years to think a out it and perhaps more information will come to light or they make new changes will keep checking on here for anyone in a similar position


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## laiguk (Nov 25, 2012)

*update*

This week we came back from holiday via london andasked the border agency if I could come backas RR showing them my old visa, telling them about our house etc and the answer is no ecause I have been out of the country too long. That then only leaves ancestry or spouse. Part of me wants to go ancestry because Iam entitled to that and will probably need to work albeit it part time or start my own small business, but spouse has less restrictions, but costs so much more and so many documents needed , and has a timeline issue with having to reapply in 2.5yrs, so I am very confused.what do you think here.? We will have to wait anyway for 18 months before applying and will have to sell our house first but then we will maybe not have the £62000 in bank for 6 months, efore we leave, 
although will have that amount in bank accounts in uk and canada plus evidence of owning our home with no mortgage in uk, so I am confused, help!


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## laiguk (Nov 25, 2012)

Joppa said:


> It seems applying for spouse visa, if you meet financial requirement through savings as you claim, will probably be the safest bet. There are too many uncertainties surrounding other options. UKBA don't give detailed advice as they know personal circumstances are complicated and they can only give a full answer after you submit your application and they have had a chance to look at all the details. You can get advice from a UK-based immigration advisor, and if you just go for an initial assessment and not buy in their whole service package, it shouldn't cost too much. Whether their advice is any better than you can get here is a moot point, judging by some poor service people have received!
> 
> Alternative is to go for a returning resident visa and really give a good shot at convincing them of a strong tie. Even if you are turned down, it should not materially affect your subsequent spouse visa application, as it is a default option - if you cannot get ILE visa, you go for LTE (leave to enter) visa.



We have listed our house for sale in Canada and I am seriously thinking of taking the plunge and going for Returning Resident Visa. My strong ties to UK are:

We own our home there in joint names with my spouse and with no mortgage. It is now our intention to move back into this house permanently.

For the 13 years I have been out of UK accompanying my OH we have returned at least 4 times to visit family

I have been submitting tax returns every year to UK due to the rental from the house. Because we pay tax here in Canada on this property we don't actually pay the tax in UK and both of us are "non-resident" for tax purposes

I have been continuing my NI contributions as a self-employed person

We have a letter we wrote to our MP in 2012 before the new rules came into place asking them to find out if these rules would affect us as we indicated then that we wanted to return home to retire when my husband reached 65 years.

The negatives is that although I came over on an Ancestral Visa initially, I only lived in UK for 3 years before I moved away with spouse (although it was always our intention to return hence keeping house and renting out, filling in tax forms, NI payments etc) and I have lived in Canada for longer than UK

What do you think my chances are of convincing the Border Agency to give me ILR and if not will it complicate my application for either Ancestry or Spouse visa?

Sorry if I keep asking questions, it is just so confusing now whereas 2 years ago I would have just been given spouse entry visa as being married for 13 years and still together!


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Almost impossible. I've never heard if anyone being successful in applying as a returning resident.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

You apparently have the means to apply for a spouse visa?

Why would you go a route which is fraught with uncertainty? As said, Returning Resident is notoriously difficult to prove - and you only lived in the UK for 3 years and have been away for 13!

While one can own a home in a country, one would not be considered _resident_ there is one lived for 99% of the time somewhere else.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You now have three No's from us!
It's really stretching the meaning of RETURNING resident if you have been out of UK for 13 years and only visited briefly four times. The limit is two years (unless you have lived most of your life in UK) and your UK tie (owning a property and getting a rent plus relatives living there) isn't strong enough to get you a retuning resident visa. It's one of the more difficult visas to get and ECOs are unlikely to be convinced by your argument.


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## Whatshouldwedo (Sep 29, 2013)

We tick nearly all the same boxes as you except we did not keep up to date with NI contributions. Our ties were pretty much the same as yours (submitting annual tax returns, owning property, closest family members living here etc) and my husband was given ILR in 1999. However, having been out of the UK, apart from several holiday visits, since 2000, we did not even contemplate trying to return as Returning Residents. Obviously, one can never be sure one will be refused but I would not risk it.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

If you return without a visa, you will definitely be refused. So apply first for returning resident visa, though getting one is quite tricky.


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## laiguk (Nov 25, 2012)

Thank you for taking the trouble to come back to me. I know I have kicked this ball around for years with the same question. I wrote to Home Office in April and my MP as well but so far no reply. I have also written a note to a new page on the UKBA which is for questions and see if they give me a reply! It is more likely Spouse Visa now! That does seem the most probable one to go with. It was not about the money, just which would have been the easiest for long term settlement as we are both hoping to retire there when we have sold our house here in Canada.


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