Mr J is a South African national who had been in the UK on an ancestry visa for almost five years. During the first few years in the UK he was always employed but in the last few months before his settlement application, he was in the UK as a job seeker. In addition, he only realised that he had misplaced his birth certificate a few months before he was eligible for the settlement.

Settlement Applications Have Specific Requirements under UK Ancestry Visa

Mr J’s visa was expiring in less than 2 weeks when he came to us for assistance in his settlement application. He informed us that he had applied for the replacement of his birth certificate from a local government department a few months back and had no positive progress in obtaining the replaced birth certificate before his visa expired. Also, at that time, he had been unemployed for more than 6 months and was still seeking employment. He was worried that he would not be eligible to apply for his settlement visa. He was thinking of waiting to apply until he had overcome both issues.

Expert Immigration Team Was Undeterred By Challenges

The complicated factors of this matter were:

• His missing birth certificate is one of the mandatory documents required to support his settlement application, and
• He must provide documentary evidence that he had been employed for the last 5 years because he entered the UK on an ancestry visa

We advised and assisted Mr J in preparing his settlement application in the UK ancestry category. We discussed a case plan for dealing with this matter since he was still in the process of obtaining a replaced birth certificate and was unemployed.

We provided a comprehensive document checklist and assisted Mr J in gathering documents to support the application and to address both issues stated above.

We also assisted Mr J in preparing his application form, preparing legal representation, and arranging supporting documents for the application.

From Ancestry Visa to Settlement and Secure Status in the UK

Mr J’s application was submitted to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) before the expiry date of his visa would prohibit him from becoming an overstayer in the UK. We continued representing him when his application was pending with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and was available for any enquiries.

His settlement was granted by UKVI in less than four months. We provided complete support that resulted in Mr J obtaining his settlement in the UK. If Mr J had not sought our assistance in time, the consequences could be severe – he might have overstayed in the UK while waiting for the replacement of his birth certificate and securing employment.