Ancestry or spouse visa when both self-employed?

Old Feb 23rd 2016, 4:07 am
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Default Ancestry or spouse visa when both self-employed?

Dear all,

I am hoping you can help. I’ve been researching the visa regulations, and think I have a handle on them, but I’m also confused about the options in my and my partner’s case and would like some advice so we don’t make a mistake affecting the rest of our lives! To sum up:

I am a UK citizen and have been with my partner (a New Zealand citizen) for six years. We met and currently live in Southeast Asia. We have never lived in eachother’s countries for any length of time, but have made various visits over the years. We plan, down the line, to get married in the UK and hopefully move there. We do not yet have children.

Regarding a move to the UK, very thankfully, I think a few options are open to us. I think he would qualify under a spouse visa (I meet the savings requirement). However, he would also qualify under an ancestry visa (he has a British grandparent, and various other relatives also resident in the UK or UK citizens).

My questions are as follows:
1. Is there any difference between a spouse visa and an ancestry visa in terms of time/earning requirements/ease to get IDL to remain and then citizenship?

I ask this as are both currently self-employed (ours earnings are up and down) and one of us will be a long way from home, so being flexible on income requirements and the having the allowance to leave the country for more than a few months a year, if needed, would be a benefit.

From what I’ve read, I think the spouse visa allows more flexibility (is that right?) so might well be worth the extra cost/application process. I’m also nervous of IDL to remain perhaps being tied to income under an ancestry visa (is that right?). It’s a bit difficult to predict our income in 5 years when self-employed and we’d likely live in a part of the country where our earning potential wouldn’t be as high as in London.

2. I think we’d need to get married on a fiancé visa. But if we didn’t stay in the UK straight away after getting married and returned to Asia to get our affairs in order etc, would my partner then have to return to New Zealand temporarily to apply for the spouse/ancestry visa? Is there any way of applying from a regional hub, like Singapore?

I realise, especially reading some of the messages of this forum, that we are extremely lucky to have a choice when it comes to visas, but at that same time I don’t want us to make the wrong decision and have to reset the process of gaining citizenship by switching visas along the line. Any advice much appreciated.
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Old Feb 23rd 2016, 6:37 am
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Default Re: Ancestry or spouse visa when both self-employed?

Providing your partner intends to work in the UK for at least five years then an ancestry visa is much preferable to a spouse visa as it is much cheaper, lasts for five years and there are no financial requirements.

The only advantage of a spouse visa is that the holder does not need to work. However the holder of an ancestry visa only needs to work or look for work in order so if there was a period of unemployment then providing your partner could demonstrate that he was genuinely looking for work during this period then he would still qualify for ILR at the end of the five years. If married to you then he could immediately apply for British citizenship after receiving ILR.

If you do go down the spouse visa route you may find it cheaper and easier to marry on a marriage visitor visa and then your partner could leave the country to finalise his affairs before applying directly for a spouse visa and skipping the extra expense of a fiancé visa. In either case he would need to apply from a country in which he was a legal resident. Generally this would limit him to New Zealand unless he has residency status elsewhere.

Your partner's British-born grandparent - was he or she employed in UK Crown service at the time of your partner's parent's birth?
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