Q: I am currently residing in the UK on an Ancestry Visa. I have tried looking into gaining UK citizenship however I am a little unclear of what criteria I would have to fulfil. I was wondering if you could explain briefly what I would have to do in order to get British Citizenship.
A: Ancestral visa holders are required to complete five years on their current status under the present law. During the course of the five years there is a travel restriction which must be maintained as well as a few other requirements set out by Home Office guidelines. Upon completion of the five years the applicant will qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK.
Applications can be submitted 28 days before the completion of the required five years. Once the ILR has been obtained, applicants will need to complete a further 12 months in order to qualify for citizenship (unless for example married to a British citizen).
In order to qualify for British citizenship, the applicant should not travel more than three months out of the 12 months required. The British application is currently taking three-six months to process; you will be able to remain resident in the UK while the Home Office is processing the application. Please contact our offices for assistance.
Please contact our offices for more information.
JP Breytenbach
Director of Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants Limited
www.bic-immigration.com or info@bic-immigration.com