Tips for applying for a UK Ancestry Visa from Sydney

The Turnbull government’s 2017 visa shakeup threw quite a hefty spanner in our plans. Mid job-hunt, we found many of the positions I’d been applying for were removed from the sponsored occupations lists. With a new restriction requiring two years’ work experience in a similar role, the seven years spent training for life as a research scientist counted for nothing, and with only 20 months under my belt in my first research job since university, I can’t even be sponsored for the same role that I’d just left. Across one week in April 2017, my options for staying and working in Australia reduced to zero. At 28 years old I still don’t have enough experience, either to change career or even stay in my current field in Australia.

Family here keep asking whether Handsome, Muscly, Dashing* Australian Partner and I can just apply for a partner visa. I wish we could. If the 4-year 457 skilled worker visa I hold was coming to an end, that would have been fine (under the old rules anyway!). Following application for an Onshore Partner Visa 820/801, a Bridging Visa A with full work rights would automatically be granted while we await a decision 18+ months from now. However, at 2-years into a 4-year 457 visa, I can’t transition onto a Bridging Visa A. Instead, if I don’t find sponsorship my 457 visa gets cancelled, leaving me in Australia illegally. At that point, I could apply for a Bridging Visa E, but that has no work rights. I wouldn’t be able to work or visit home until the visa decision is made 18+ months from now. (And for those that keep asking, no, marriage wouldn’t change the situation!)

Thankfully, our UK visit to introduce my partner to family and friends had gone so well, he suggested we both move back to the UK. Luckily, he’s eligible for a UK Ancestry Visa as one of his grandparents was UK-born. This option looks much easier for us than the UK Family of a Settled Person Visa (commonly referred to as a partner visa), and brings me to the subject for this post:

Tips for applying for a UK Ancestry Visa from Australia.

The eligibility requirements for the Ancestry Visa are pretty simple, so we thought the application would be straightforward. As with everything though, it wasn’t quite that easy, here are some tips to help prepare.

Documents Partner is providing: Birth certificates (his, parent’s, grandparent’s)

Qualifications relevant to jobs he’s applying for

Correspondence with UK job posters/recruiters

Past 3 months of bank records (issued in a statement)

Standard vs Priority processing of birth certificate.

UK birth certificates can be ordered from the General Registry Office (GRO). Some birth certificate records have been digitised, and if you’re lucky enough to fall into one of these years, you can find an index number which speeds up the processing time. For orders with no index number:

Standard service costs £9.25 including postage, takes 15 working days before dispatch, and is then sent by standard first class mail to Australia. Which uses AusPost. In my two years here I’ve become jaded, rarely does it take less than 10 working days for a letter to arrive from the UK. I’ve noticed no difference between parcel and letter delivery times, both take around 10 working days. Therefore, the standard delivery option for a birth certificate quickly adds up to five weeks. When we ordered my birth certificate in January and it didn’t arrive, we then had to wait an extra 10 working days before submitting a query, and another three weeks for it to be reprocessed and delivered. Which is all fine if you’ve got plenty of time.

For the grandparent’s certificate, we chose priority processing, which costs £23.40 and was dispatched within two working days. As we’re overseas, priority delivery with DHL cost an extra £10.62. Once picked up by the courier, we had regular updates by text about the location of the package and could track it online until it was delivered four days later, on a Sunday. Well worth the £34.02. I can also recommend ordering over the phone, it's easier as the website was clunky.

Up to date bank records

For an Ancestry Visa biometrics appointment, you need to take evidence that you’ve had "enough" money (£1600 gets mentioned a lot on forums) in your accounts for at least the past 90 days.

This may not be a problem for most people, but we use an internet bank with no branches, and statements only get generated every six months. Getting this proof proved surprisingly difficult. Make sure you call in plenty of time, my partner had to ring multiple times over the course of three days before they generated the right records with his name and address.

Getting a biometrics appointment at VFS Global in Sydney

Submitting the application form went fine. Afterwards, you need to book an appointment to have your biometrics (fingerprints and photo) recorded, and your evidence documents scanned. This must be booked before you can pay the International Health Surcharge (IHS) or the visa application fee.

In Australia, the company that runs biometrics testing is called VFS Global, they have offices in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. If you’re near Adelaide or Hobart, there’s a postal option, and if you’re in the Northern Territories, who knows.

The scariest part of the whole process:

VFS Global had NO APPOINTMENTS in Sydney for 2017.

We were horrified, thought the booking form must be broken, scoured forums for people with the same problem with no success. VFS have no phone number you can call, so we emailed their enquiries address, and submitted a complaint. No-one got back to us within the promised 24 hours. We tried calling the UK Visa & Immigration (UKV&I) helpline, but baulked at the £1.37/minute cost (charged to a credit card), so emailed instead, but had still received no reply three days later despite another 24 hour reply stated. Stress levels were spiralling at the prospect of waiting till next year for his visa decision.

At this point, he was looking at appointments in other locations. There were plenty in Melbourne and Brisbane over the next three weeks, and a couple in Canberra. We hadn’t factored in $180+ flights or an 8-hour round trip, but couldn’t see any other options.

Thankfully we decided to sleep on it, twice, while waiting for the bank statements. On the third morning, Partner logged into the Visa4UK site again and there was a single 9am appointment for the following week in Sydney. Possibly a cancellation? He snapped it up, and locked it in by paying the IHS and visa fee.

Advice I can offer to Sydney applicants for UK visas - other than be aware that the Sydney VFS Global office is ridiculously booked up - is to check the website regularly for cancellations. I think they may only advertise a few weeks in advance, but couldn't tell you for sure as there's no-one to ask.

We’re now just awaiting the biometrics appointment before things get moving! Will update when we know more.

*Definitely not written by Handsome, Muscly, Dashing Australian Partner

#Ancestry #tips #VFSGlobal #UKvisa #birthcertificate #evidence #biometrics