Ancestry Extensions

Hey guys,

My Ancestry Visa has almost come to an end and I need to look at my options for staying in the UK.

I’d like to know is a Ancestry Extention the best way forward? Can I eventually apply for a British passport?
How much does it cost and who are the best companies to go through?

Cheers,

Hey hun,

I got my ancestry extension in May this year. There is absolutely no need to go through any particular company (they charge heaps). Just do it yourself...its simple as!

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/6353/11406/flr(o)may.pdf

Its either £395 for a postal application (mine took 5 weeks) or £595 for a premier application (you have to go to apply in person, but you get it a day or so later.

Your extension will be for 5 years, but if you want your passport asap you will need to apply for an indefinite leave to remain visa in a years time and then your passport a year after that.

Done!

Thanks Domino,

Thats some great info!

How long have you been here for now? Are you gonna stick around for your passport?

Havent seen you down at Soho Gyms for a while.

I got mine extended around the same time as Dom did but went with the more expensive option as I was running out of time and needed my passport back asap. I got work to pay for it too. Might be worth a shot asking them? I had been there a while when I asked though.

Baynesy, yes I've been VERY slack at the gym! Going again properly from next week. Well thats the plan anyway! What nights are you playing there now?

I was going to stay for my passport, but I had a look online last week and I'm due to apply for my passport in May 2009, but the processing times are 7-8months! So think I might flag it. I would have been here almost 7 years by then. Might be a bit much I think!! Planning on leaving the UK next November.

xx

Cheers for the tip Spike,

I just told my boss about my VISA situation and he said the company will front the cost!
Best news I've heard all week!

Domino, I'm playing either Mon, Tues or Wed - Probably Tues night next week. might see ya down there

I wont be at the gym on Tuesday 'cos I'll be boozing it up at the Roadhouse with the rest of the London biggies!

Lucky you got your work to pay for it. Mine wouldnt, against company policy blah blah.

x

Hey Spike and Dominio,

Did you guys have to provide your own + your grand parents birth certs when applying for an extension?

can i ask why you need extensions with an ancestry visa????

if you have the visa your able to stay there indefinatly (as long as you spend a certin percentage in the UK) and if you are there for 5 years they you are able to ger residency?????? or is there something im missing?

I got mine when it was 4 years, so I guess there is this middle period where we need an extension. Thats my guess????

Yup, had to provide all documentation all over again!

Yeah I got mine when it was 4 years too. Cant believe they make us pay for an extension when we should automatically get it! Bastards!

Yep I had to as well. There was a UK based online place I got my grandfathers from. Mum sent me over hers and mine

so those of you that got it when it was 4 years have to pay to get it extended to meet the now 5 years that it takes but me however being in the proces of getting my visa (which is 5 years) wont have to get an extension??????????????? is that right?????????

Thats right.... for now

Do you need original copies of the Birth Certs?

Yep

All mine are back in Wellington Spike. Whats the most secure way to send over such important documents?

USPS offer international Track & Trace

My Grandads original I ordered online, as I didn't want Mum sending that one. I got Mum to order another original of mine and hers and she just couriered them over for me.

Im just in the process of getting my anch visa for the first time and OMG what a mission i have to courietr to wellington

My grandads orig birth cert
My mums orig birth cert
My orig birth cert
My mum and dads orig marriage lic
My mum and dads orig divorce papers
My mum and step dads orig marriage lic

all to fucking prove that my granddad is my grandad!

Along with
certified copies of degree, passport, drivers license, NZ physio registration, UK physio reg

AND if thats not enough

i have to pay $580


AND

treck over to henderson to get my FINGERPRINTS TAKE




dam YOU

(Oh actual passport going also not certified copy)

I've been through the same thing Honey, you forgot about the bank statement though (although I assume you included it with all the other documents you had to send in). Probably a bit easier for me as I could deal with the High Commission in person as it's about 5 minutes from my work.

Having a mother who is obsessed with geneology meant everything was fairly easy to get hold of though. Had an oh shit moment at the High Commission when they weren't sure whether having savings in a joint bank account would cut it though but they then said it was fine.

Oh FFS, bank retards! Not that the High Comission has my passport they decide to tell me now that in order to set up an account before I leave they need a copy of it!

Is it as bereaucratically impossible to set up a bank account once in the UK as people tell me it is?

oh yea the bank statement i sent that too along with the piles of other crap they require!

Such a pain in the ass and now they have come back to me and said that my passport pics arent good enough and i have to get them re done and sent back to them asap FFS. can people say anal retentive hehe

I had to prove so much shit with reagrds to my savings a huge bit of it was coming from the sale of my car and my decks but when i first applied they hadnt been sold yet so i had to send them copys of the trade me ads and i also had to get a letter from my brother stating that i would be living with him and not paying rent etc etc FARK it was a pain in the ass! But its all done and hopefully the passport photos that im positng tomorro will be good enough!



Jono with the bank account its a pain in the ass setting it up here and it takes 3-4 weeks and 750 pounds opening deposit but its reasonably easy to do here and unless you have good contacts with your bank manager here then its harder to start the set up process when in london as you need release statements and letters from your bank here in NZ!

Im lucky as im a member of the Premier Banking with ASB so have my own personal banker and she has been more then helpful with this process!

Might just go down there and ask if they can photocoppy it for me then. The worst they can say is no.

This could/will throw a spanner into the works for anyone looking to extend their ancestry permit.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10493974

not sure thats for extensions, isnt it just for people who are trying to get an ancestry visa in the beginning. They cant deny anyone who has already been given a visa to extend it but i think IF (and i think its a big if as even people in London dont think its a good idea) they do decide to pass that bill it wont happen for a few years.

Just like it took YEARS to finally change the entry rights for the working visa!

I wouldn't be so sure, at all. It's all part of a bigger picture to slow immigration into the UK (which won't work, the EU is the problem, not the Commonwealth, but that's beside the point.) Immigration is a real sore point here.

yea i dont doubt that at all, they keep trying anything they can to keep us out! The seem to think that England will run properly with just poms there which is a joke, the citys will start at 10 and finish at 4 and have 2 hour lunch breaks

i don't think they're going to mess with the ancestry visa...

unfortunalty i would have to say "dont be so sure" they had a piece about it on the news last night and they English have always been pissed off about all the Saffas, Kiwis and Aussies coming in and taking all their jobs.

The changed the working visa so the next logical thing and next widely used visa to get into the UK is the ancestry visa.

I think we're the least of their worries, what about the 1 million Polish that have moved here since Poland joined the EU?

In saying that, I don't even have ancestry *grumble grumble stupid 6th genration New Zealander grumble grumble*