Ancestral visa advice

Member since 24 June 2019

kateO87Member28 June 2019 15:44:19

Hello everyone reading this!

I am in the process of applying for my ancestral visa. I have run in to a number of speed bumps.. (thanks family history..) so if anyone can offer any advice on any of the following topics please do so below, that would be very much appreciated!

First a in a nutshell of my family history -
My parents got divorced when I was two years old, my mother passed away shortly after. I was then adopted by my grand parents.

The ancestral visa I am applying for is through my biological father. His father was born in London in 1912.

Speed bump 1 - my biological father was born in Lusaka, Zambia in 1948. Apparently it was considered Northern Rhodesia then. Any advice on applying for his unabridged birth certificate?

Speed bump 2 - I have applied for my grandfathers birth certificate online from a UK gov website. The problem is his surname and my fathers surname is different. Seems my grandfather was a German Jew and due to the war etc he changed his sons surname. Has anyone ever encountered parents and children having different surnames and that effecting their application?

Speed bump 3 - does being adopted change anything? Would my now legal parents (my grandparents) actually count more. My now mother, so my grandmothers father was born in Scotland. So legally he is my grand father but technically he is my great grand father and therefore not applicable for ancestral visa.

Speed bump 4 - will I need marriage, divorce and death certificates for my application? Obtaining all of these would be a rather difficult process due to the fact I don鈥檛 speak to my biological father, and my family now is rather unhelpful and avoidant of 鈥渇amily history鈥� talk.

Despite all these hurdles I am a adamant on making this work, even if it takes a while.

Thanks,
Kate

Cynic UK/Netherlands Expert

Member since 15 September 2015

CynicUK/Netherlands Expert28 June 2019 16:49:48

8071

Hi Kate and welcome to the Forum.

To be honest; we very rarely get ancestral questions like you're asking and I doubt if you'll get any reliable information to get you over the speed bumps.

My advice is that you need some help from someone who can look at your circumstances and see if there are any stoppers in there; I say this because the last thing you want is to go through all the pain (and cost) of collecting information, only to find out that you don't qualify, or that somebody who hasn't got a clue what he/she is talking about leads you in the wrong direction and it ends in tears.

The UK Gov website provides information related to finding professional advisers; this will take you there.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

kateO87 Member

Member since 24 June 2019

kateO87Member29 June 2019 07:24:53

Fair enough. Thanks

evanssophiya Member

Member since 03 July 2019

evanssophiyaMember03 July 2019 10:07:31

Hi, Kate.
Yes, it's really complicated question. Only speialist can help you. May be you find help on this [link moderated].
Sorry, if I give useless advice, but I could not get past this story.