July 24th. I got my biometrics letter July 30th and got an appointment for the next day.

Since that was more than six months ago I would try emailing again.

[QUOTE=carl_robson;13242226]Hi Kelsey,

It all stemmed from right of abode, and they didn’t acknowledge that they could have become BOCs if it weren’t for gender discrimination (unsurprisingly). I doubt there will be a change in their stance unless successfully challenged in the courts, unfortunately.

I was tempted to submit another application arguing that they were now discriminated against because of their age (since the Home Office are allowing children under 18 to be registered if their parents applied on the basis of a female grandparent) but decided it wasn’t worth it.

Fingers crossed that there’s change in the future!

QUOTE=carl_robson;13242226
Hi there Carl - wondering if you know whether this response was received prior to Biometrics or post. Just trying to understand at what point in the long process this decision was communicated to the applicants. Thanks in advance.

Hi there. The decision was confirmed right at the end of the process, after everything was submitted and paid for. They received their fees back as non successful applicants. We haven’t tried submitting again as it seems rather pointless with the Home Office’s current position. If that changes (subject to some form of litigation, I suspect), we’d of course try again at that point.

Hi there. The decision was confirmed right at the end of the process, after everything was submitted and paid for. They received their fees back as non successful applicants. We haven’t tried submitting again as it seems rather pointless with the Home Office’s current position. If that changes (subject to some form of litigation, I suspect), we’d of course try again at that point.

thanks for the quick response - did they do their Biometrics as well then I assume?

Yep, they went through the standard process.

Today I received a packet back from the UK with all my original documents and a letter saying my application was approved! My total timeline was

Oct 29 2024 - Application mailed
Nov 12 2024 - Application fee charged
Dec 18 2024 - Biometric appointment booked
Jan 3 2025 - Biometric appointment completed
April 4 2025 - Citizenship acceptance letter and original documentation returned

I am now just waiting for them to provide me with a ceremony date! Thank you so much to everybody on this forum. I do not think I would have been brave enough to try this myself without the people here. I'd especially like to thank Glassybell and BritInParis

Hi All. This is a super useful thread and one I have been trawling through from near beginning to end to understand the requirements for a Section 4L claim (my grandmother was born in the UK). Where I am coming up short and would appreciate advice is on certificates. I'm currently in the UK on an ancestral visa and have been here for coming up on 4 years. When I applied for my visa it was during COVID and, with the visa application being online, only every submitted copies of the relevant certificates. I never had the originals and essentially worked off copies from my parents or of documentation for myself. These of course met the necessary requirements and my visa was granted. Now that I'm UK based I have original documents relevant to me but none of the originals for my grandmother and mother/parents to support my claim. As I gather copies (even certified/notarized) are unlikely to meet the necessary requirements for an ARD paper-based application, I would appreciate any advice or experience in this regard. Are originals the only way or can I work with the same copies I used for my visa application? I can elaborate descendance if helpful but think this will come back to how to get hold of originals either way. Thanks in advance for any advice!

If you hold a UK Ancestry visa, were you born in a Commonwealth country? If so, it’s unlikely that you would qualify to be registered under Section 4L. How do you believe you are eligible?

Fair question! My assumption on eligibility is based on other very similar scenarios to my own that are described in this forum.

In nutshell -

1. Grandmother born in Scotland 1937
2. Mother born in South Africa 1957 (foreign country)
3. I was born 1984 in South Africa (within the 5 year transitional period)

South Africa was still a member of the Commonwealth in 1957 but, critically, it had left and not yet rejoined when you were born in 1984. As such you are eligible to be registered under Section 4L. You will need original certificates for everyone involved. For your grandmother, that will be her birth certificate and marriage certificate and the same for your mother. I assume your mother married in South Africa - where did your grandmother marry?

Thanks BritInParis! Helpful as ever. My mother was married in South Africa, as was my grandmother. All the original certificates are with my parents in South Africa so I guess a process of trying to get new certificates for myself or get those sent to me somehow. Are certificates returned after review by HO (assuming I provide a paid return envelope)?

If your parents have the originals then ask them to send them to you as South African vital certificates take a notoriously long time to get hold of from the government. They’ll all be returned to you once your application has been processed.

Perfect, thanks for the conformation. All to familiar with the challenge of getting certificates from South Africa! It's the last resort option. Thanks again for the input/advice