What is the UK ancestry visa?

An ancestry visa is a visa that will allow a Commonwealth citizen with ancestral links to the United Kingdom to live and work in the UK and to be allowed to bring family members to live with you. An ancestry visa offers full freedom to work in the UK, including working as a self-employed person or starting your own business.

All applications must be made from outwith the UK. It is not possible to switch into this visa route from within the UK is already here under a different status, which also includes those here visiting the UK.

Applicants are able to bring dependent family members to the UK, which includes a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner (where you can demonstrate that you have been in a genuine and subsisting relationship for more than two years) and children under the age of 18 years provided they are not living an independent life. In general, children who are aged 18 or over at the time of application will not qualify unless they are already in the UK as a dependent and remain part of the same household.

Who is eligible?

You will be eligible to apply for an ancestry visa if you meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

• You are aged 17 and over

• You are a Commonwealth citizen

• You are able to prove that one of your grandparents was born in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, or born prior to 31 March 1922 in what is now the Republic of Ireland

• You are able and intending to seek and take employment (or self employment) in the UK

• You are able to satisfy the maintenance and accommodation requirement, ie; you have sufficient funds without recourse to public funds to support and house yourself and any dependants

• You are able to produce a valid tuberculosis (TB) test certificate as required depending on your country of residence.

• The grandparent must be your blood grandparent or a grandparent by way of an adoption recognised under UK law. Ancestry cannot be claimed through step-grandparents or foster relationships.

What documents are needed?

• Your full birth certificate

• The full birth certificates of the parent and grandparent that your ancestry claim is based on

• The marriage certificates for your parents and grandparents, if they were married

• The legal adoption papers if you or the parent that your ancestry claim is based on are adopted (provided that the adoption is recognised under UK law).

Duration

If your application for a UK ancestry visa is successful you will be granted permission to remain in the UK for five years. At the conclusion of this five year period you will then be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) provided that:

• You continue to meet the requirements of the immigration rules for UK ancestry, and

• You have spent five years continuously in the UK and can show that you have an employment history throughout that five year period. If you intend to apply for ILR you should not spend more than 180 days per year outside the UK during this five year period.

If at the end of your five year ancestry visa you do not meet all of the ILR qualifying criteria, you may apply for an extension to your ancestry visa.

Breakdown of costs

Visa Application Fee: The standard application fee for a UK Ancestry visa is £682 per adult applicant, payable online when submitting your application. This fee is non-refundable, even if your application is refused or withdrawn.

Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS): The national health surcharge fee is mandatory at £1,035 per year, totaling £5,175 for the full visa period. Children under 18 pay a lower fee of £3,880 for five years.

Biometric Fee: Applicants must also pay a biometric enrolment fee of £76.50.

Optional Priority Service: If you want a faster decision, priority processing is available in some countries for an additional £500, reducing processing time to around five working days.

Ancestry visa changes

As of 11 November 2025, the UK immigration rules have undergone significant changes, consolidating the general grounds for refusal into a new section called Part Suitability. This new framework applies stricter tests across various visa routes.

Key changes include:

• Mandatory refusals for applicants with criminal convictions resulting in imprisonment of 12 months or more, regardless of when the conviction occurred.

• A broader definition of breaches of immigration laws.