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I am currently applying for my Ancestral Visa for UK.In order to process my visa i needed to acquire my unabridged birth certificate.I applied for this at the Paarl Home Affairs in Cape Town on the 8th April 2017 and was informed that even under the urgent circumstances they could not fast track my application and it would take up to 8 weeks to be finalised.We are now in June and my application has taken just over 10 weeks and is still not finalised.I have made numerous calls, many unattended and calls ended after being put on hold for over 15 minutes each time.The times i did manage to reach the consultants informed me the application is still in process however it is noted that it is urgent (due to visa purposes) and they each told me they would either note on the system or escalate the case to a higher department to attain further feedback.I have also had email contact with the department of home affairs where they acknowledge the urgency of my application and request i follow up within 3 - 5 working days and they will have feedback for me. ALL to no avail, i follow up and i am told the same thing over again.My most recent correspondence however, i was informed that i need to revisit the branch again to complete forms and ''fast track my application'' as they are UNABLE TO TRACE MY BIRTH RECORDS. ( Keeping in mind these are the same forms i completed on my initial application for my Unabridged birth certificate).While i do understand back logs, i find it completely unacceptable that my original birth records and documentation has been lost. These are legal documents and should be taken care of specifically for circumstances such as this.I have been waiting for this Birth certificate for 10 weeks, and due to the wait my visa documentation will be when ( or if) my unabridged birth certificate finally arrives.As i stay a fair distance from the branch office i feel that is also incredulous to request i revisit the branch ( and wait in line for an entire day) to complete documentation that Home affairs already has on file.I am incredibly disappointed to hear that my original birth records are possibly 'lost' and this is in turn causing a great impact on my visa and not to mention the expenses incurred to have to redo all my documentation.I am writing today, not to complain but to raise my concerns in the hope that someone is able to provide assistance with my application. I will admit that seeing as these are legal documents, i do expect the people in charge to have taken better care than to 'misplace' them.

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